


All I Need

by DulcetFox



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Near Future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2019-07-29 17:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DulcetFox/pseuds/DulcetFox
Summary: Chat Noir and Marinette find themselves in a complex situation. Trapped by one of Hawk Moth's victims, Chat is trying to find a way to get a hold of Ladybug and Marinette is desperately trying to find a way to help her partner without revealing her identity. Awkward situations and fluff ensue.





	1. Knight in Shining Leather

"Hang on Princess! We gotta move!!" The secret nickname he had for his friend slipping out once again. He had no time to be embarrassed about it...this time anyway. Chat Noir was leaping and vaulting over the city's rooftops, propelling himself with the help of his extendable baton. His muscles pushing themselves to their limits, wind whipping his hair wildly, as he tried to get ahead of the akumatized victim that was wreaking havoc just a block or so behind him.  
His cat ears flattened backward at the sound of something crashing just behind them and to the right. It sounded like it may have been a car, but he didn't have time to look back. He had to get his precious cargo to safety.  
"Chat! You can't keep this pace up forever!" The raven-haired girl he was carrying yelled over the noise of the pursuit. "You're going to get hurt. Just drop me somewhere so you can concentrate on the akuma!" Marinette's arms were wrapped as loosely around Chat Noir's neck and shoulders as she could without falling off. She was doing her best to give him as much freedom of movement as she could to help them get out of this ridiculous situation. She was riding piggyback on the black leather-clad superhero. At least she assumed it was some kind of leather. It was hard to determine what, besides some kind of energy, their super-suits were actually made of.  
"No way Mari!" Chat yelled over his shoulder. In his distraction, not realizing how familiar he was being with a girl he should, by all rights, only know through a few brief encounters. "I'm not letting you go until I know you're going to be safe!" So saying, he hiked her up and got a better grip on her thighs, only blushing slightly. He'd be embarrassed later, right now, he had to concentrate on keeping out of range of "Dr. Greenhouse" (as the akumatized victim was calling himself), and the energy blasts from his "Ray-bans" (Chat may have appreciated the pun more if he wasn't in the process of being attacked). He had seen cars turn into stones and bushes, motorcycles and lamp posts become shrubs and trees. The effects on humans Chat and Marinette had witnessed firsthand and....well it was enough for Chat to panic, snatch up Marinette, tuck tail and run.  
Marinette being used to Chat as her partner didn't pick up on the excessive familiarity, she was way too busy trying to plot a way to sneak off and transform. She was completely frustrated. She’d be able to help Chat if she could just get her suit on, instead of being a liability as she currently was.  
Breathless, Chat skidded to a halt, on a familiar rooftop. He stooped, hands on his legs, his breathing labored as he took a quick second to look around. He had landed on the top of Le Grand Paris Hotel. Marinette slid off of his back; head turning this way and that, pigtails bobbing as she quickly assessed her surroundings. "I'll be fine here Chat. Why don’t..."  
Marinette never got a chance to finish her sentence as a blast of energy narrowly missed hitting her, transforming a cabana umbrella into an ornamental tree. She had squeaked and took an unsteady leap back, losing her balance, she flailed her arms helplessly as she began to fall backward toward the pool. Chat snatched her up into a bridal carry. In a half growl, he glared in the direction the blast had come from, "That's it! We need to get out of the open!" With Marinette in his arms, he spun and fireman kicked the nearest door that led off the roof with one booted heel, sending the door crashing inward.  
Marinette was impressed, Chat usually only necessitated that kind of force when Ladybug was in danger. She tried to wrap her mind around that for a second while Chat sprinted for the elevator.  
"Wait Chat! If we get caught in the elevator...."  
"Good point! Hang on!" With that Chat headed down the nearest stairwell, jumping from landing to landing. Though he was trying to save Marinette from being jarred too much, Marinette couldn't help but feel like a pinball as they bounced down to ground level.  
Over the loudspeakers of the hotel, a woman's voice could be heard saying "Akuma Alert. All civilians are advised to stay out of sight. Do not attempt to confront the akuma. Ladybug and Chat Noir will arrive shortly."

Marinette could hear cat grumbling under his breath as they came off the last landing and started sprinting through the lobby, "C'mon M'lady. Where are you?..."

She wanted so desperately to reassure her partner. She opened her mouth to try to offer some comfort when they heard the nearby crash of furniture and a raspy voice saying "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Give us your miraculous and the girl you're carrying can go free..."

"Chat hurry..." Marinette took a quick glance around then pointed to a nearby door "in there!" 

Chat skidded to a halt then balked before going through the door. “But that's the ladies' room..."

"Kitty, seriously?!" Marinette snapped, not realizing she had used her nickname for her partner in her exasperation.

"Right." Sheepishly Chat Noir complied, slipping through the bathroom door and quickly and quietly closing the door behind them with the metal toe of one booted foot.  
He wasn't quite sure why he trusted Marinette so much. Sure she was his friend, not that she knew who HE was underneath the mask, but it was more than that. She had a kind of presence of command and leadership about her that was familiar... very familiar in fact. 

He didn't realize how he was staring at Marinette, still in his arms until she blushed slightly and cleared her throat. 

"Ahem... I think it's ok to put me down now Chat."

"Oh...uh...right. Sorry" Chat blushed and scratched the back of his neck uncertainly with one clawed hand. His heart was beating a hundred miles per hour, though he couldn't quite understand why. Sure Marinette was attractive, beautiful even, but he loved Ladybug...it's just...something about Mari had caught his attention, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was just yet. Then as that thought had managed to filter through, immediately after he gave a start and flipped the communicator in his baton open.

Again he only got the screen saying ladybug was unavailable. He left yet another message, trying not to let the anxiety creep into his voice, fully aware that Marinette was next to him listening. "Ladybug, we have a situation. There's an akumatized victim in the Bourgeois' Hotel. I’m in the ladies room on the ground floor with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Pretty sure the akuma is in the guy's glasses. Hurry please; I'm on the last of my nine lives today!"

Chat looked up and noticed Marinette's concerned expression. Her hand was fisted, covering her mouth, brows knitted together in thought. Chat leaned toward her placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling gently. "It's going to be ok Marinette. Ladybug will get here soon and we'll be able to take this guy out and get you home faster than I can twitch a whisker." 

Marinette looked up at Chat Noir and gave what she hoped was a convincing smile. 'Easy for him to say' she thought, as she was trying to figure out a way to change without alerting Chat to who she was. "Maybe we should check the stalls to make sure no one is trapped in here with us." Marinette said gesturing to the many stalls in the plush hotel ladies room. 

As she expected, Chat blanched and she hid her smile, knowing already what he was planning to say.

"Uuuuhhh. Good idea Marinette, m-maybe you should check. I'd...um...hate to interrupt...anything." Chat turned a shade of crimson that rivaled even Marinette's usual awkward blush. 

"Don't worry Chat. I'll handle this. Maybe you could check to see if the coast is clear?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll do that." Chat said enthusiastically latching onto the idea like a drowning man would a life preserver.

Marinette stifled a giggle as Chat turned to crack the door open just enough to peer outside. She had hoped he'd agree. It gave her a moment to think. As she had anticipated, the bathroom was completely empty. As she continued to check the stalls, she recapped on the events of the day up to that point.

****  
She thought she was going to have a quiet Saturday for once. She had been out on her roof patio watering her plants in her pink jean shorts and her favorite white shirt with pink flower design. Tikki was lounging nearby on a cushioned chair taking in the mid-morning sunlight. "It's so beautiful out today Tikki, you feel like taking a walk to find Andre later and get some ice cream?"

"Yum! I'd love some! You don't have to ask me twice." Tikki chirped up excitedly, licking her lips in anticipation and zooming to Marinette's cheek for a quick cuddle.

Marinette giggled and nuzzled Tikki back. She loved to spoil her friend, confidant, and kwami whenever she had a chance, which was pretty easy to accomplish given the little kwami's penchant toward a sweet tooth. She always felt so bad when she had to call on Tikki's power so suddenly, which had been happening quite frequently; twice just the week before. 

"That's a welcome sight, a girl giggling over her flowers. I'll give you a Peony for your thoughts." A familiar voice chided behind her. Marinette's heart leaped into her throat. Luckily Tikki was in front of her and quickly swooshed out of sight and into her little purse, which Marinette kept on her for just that reason. 

"Chat Noir? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Making sure Tikki was securely out of sight, she whirled around to face her partner. Of course, he didn't know that, which...wait why was he here?

"Sorry purr-incess, didn't mean to startle you." Chat had settled down onto her lounge chair and was swinging the leg that wasn't tucked up on the chair with him. His leg halted, however, mid-swing when he realized he used his secret name for Marinette that he'd been calling her in his head whenever he found her as Chat Noir. He hoped the lady in question wouldn't notice but from the curious tilt to her head and the small quirk of her lips, he could tell he was done for.

"Princess? How am I a princess?" Marinette was trying not to giggle. It was rare to see Chat Noir thrown off his guard, and she was enjoying his discomfort a little too much. She always thought of him as a bit of a playboy, but if the blush on his face was any indication, he wasn't as suave and flirtatious as she always assumed him to be. 

"Well...ummm....it's just that...I-I...w-w-well that is to say…" Chat scratched the back of his head as he tried to find a way to explain himself that didn't sound too dorky or creepy.

Marinette finding his discomfort absolutely adorable shook her head and went to sit beside him at the foot of the lounge chair. She decided she could be a little daring with him, after all, he did come to her, and had come to her before when he had needed comfort that night... that night she had unwittingly stood him up. The night Andre the ice cream man was akumatized.

She still felt bad about that day. She had messed so much up that day. It all turned out okay in the end, but she hated having to reject her partner, but she couldn't very well even entertain thoughts about him when her heart belonged to Adrien. Never mind that Adrien didn't even think of her in that way. Could she?

While Marinette was having this little mental interlude, Chat Noir was still stammering and getting redder by the second. Marinette chuckled under her breath and shook her head gently before she laid a hand on Chat Noir's gloved hand and smiled at him saying "It's okay Chat. Breathe."

Chat Noir stopped stammering finally and took the advice, before giving a sheepish grin. His tail twitched nervously behind him. "It's just, any time I pass by and happen to see you, you're always on your balcony. And... I'll let you in on a little secret." He scooted closer to Marinette, leaning in conspiratorially and looking around so that Marinette felt obliged to look around as well, even though she knew no one would come up on her balcony without announcing themselves first. Chat leaned in and whispered in her ear cupping his hand over his mouth, "I'm a huge Disney nerd."

Marinette drew back and laughed. “Okay...but how does that make me a princess?" 

Chat chuckled lightly and looked away a bit embarrassed still but starting to be more his usual self. His tail lashed playfully, as he sent Marinette a sideways glance before answering "Well...for starters you're over here on a balcony like you see princesses in movies do all the time, "Chat held up his fingers, ticking points off on a gloved hand as he went, "I've had to come and rescue you a few times, also a huge princess quality." Marinette gave Chat a dry look, wishing she could tell him how many times she's had to save his hide as Ladybug. Chat continued on, oblivious to Marinette's chagrin, "you're pretty as any Disney princess I've seen," At this Marinette's eyes fluttered open wide in surprise she didn't know Chat thought that way about her, as Marinette anyway. She didn't know what to think about that information, but it was making her stomach flutter uncomfortably. So even as she blushed, Chat also blushed slightly but continued on “and you talk to animals, therefore, you're a princess." Marinette was drawn out of her confused feelings to be just generally confused.

"Wait, when do I talk to animals?" She was worried a moment that maybe Chat had seen her talking to Tikki, but maybe if she could play it off as she was talking to a little bird or something, it would be better for her in the long run.

"Well, you're talking to me aren't you?" Chat wiggled his eyebrows and twitched his ears then tail to bring his point across. 

Marinette was stunned a moment then burst out laughing. "Silly Kitty!” Marinette ruffled the feather soft hair between Chat's cat ears “You're such a goof!”

Chat had frozen a moment but continued on as if he wasn’t perturbed, laughing a bit himself but a little nervously. There, just then when Marinette had laughed and called him a ‘Silly Kitty’, it was almost exactly…well it was very similar to at the very least, a certain red-clad, polka-dotted female he knew.

He wondered what the odds could possibly be that one of his best friends could also be his partner and the love of his life. He shook his head, he couldn’t possibly be that lucky. There was absolutely no way that was even an option, and yet…

Marinette had noticed the sudden change in Chat and decided to ask her original question again, “So what brings you to my balcony today Sir Chat?”

“Sir Chat?” The super hero’s ears perked and he had a quizzical smile on his face.

“Well, yeah. If I’m a princess, I have to have a knight to champion me right? You can be my knight in shining leather!” Marinette giggled deciding she was actually pretty comfortable with Chat around. She could be herself around him, unlike when she spoke to Adrien. It was hard for her to even get her thoughts straight around him, let alone her words.

 

“Sir Chat…I could get used to that.” Chat smiled and reclined as much as possible in the lounge chair with Marinette sitting at the end. He liked this, the sense of warmth, comfort, openness, an easy bond. She was super easy to talk to as Chat. For some reason, he felt there was some kind of tension between them in his civilian form. It had lessened over the nearly four years he’d known her, but he still felt bad for it. He chalked it up to the time he had been caught taking gum off of Marinette’s seat that Chloe had put there, which Marinette had mistaken as him trying to prank her. They’d cleared things up of course, and over time, and working with her on things like the gaming tournament and hanging out with Nino and Alya, who were constantly around her, he felt she was one of his closest friends besides Nino. Sitting with her like this, as Chat though, just felt so easy and natural in comparison.  
Remembering her question, he looked down, a little sullenly at his claws before answering. “I was actually hoping you’d be out here today. Some days, where I live, it could feel a little…secluded.” He looked up and smiled gently at Marinette, who was looking at him with big, incredibly blue eyes full of concern. It warmed his heart that she’d be concerned for him, someone she barely even knew. But, he figured, she wouldn’t be Marinette if she didn’t. “I remembered any time I’ve talked with you or come by in the past, you always listened to me. You never treated me like a celebrity, or someone intimidating. You always just…talked to me…like a friend. You know?” He looked away, hoping he wasn’t overstepping his bounds.

Marinette smiled, leaning back on her little bit of lounge chair her arms crossing over where one of Chat’s feet was. Her smile faltered a little as a thought occurred to her. “You….don’t you talk to Ladybug like this?” She knew very well what the answer would be, but she couldn’t give herself away, and she needed answers that her question was sure to lead to.

“Ladybug and I, yeah we talk a lot… but I feel worried about what she thinks about me. I feel like I’m kind of a klutz around her; like I'm not quite myself. ” Cat raised his hands in a questioning way. “Does that make sense?”

Marinette sighed and raised her knees wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. “Trust me; it makes more sense than you think.”  
Chat suddenly remembered something about Marinette, something that he saw the last time he was here, in her room, with Ladybug.

“So…Speaking of talking to people, you ever talk to that guy you were telling me about?” He could feel Marinette tense up at the foot of the lounge chair, a slight sheen of panic glossed over her eyes. She was just about to try to answer him when they heard a crash and screams in the street below. Both of their heads had swiveled in the direction of the noises they heard. As one they turned back to look at each other with wide eyes, then both teens sprinted to the edge of the balcony to see what the commotion was about. 

Below, in the streets there was, what looked like a man wearing a lab coat and spiked glasses. Except that the man was about five times the size of a normal man. His skin, if that's what it could be called, was a mossy green pallor and he had greyish brown roots protruding from where his arms and legs should have been.

"Parasites of the earth, your time has come!!! You will harm the planet with your contraptions and pollution no more!!!" The akumatized villain let out a cackle that sounded like tree branches snapping. 

"Oh no!" Marinette gasped out the words almost inaudibly. This was not the best time for Chat to be so close by, she needed to hurry and transform. 

"Don't worry Marinette, I can handle this guy until Ladybug gets here." Chat hopped onto the railing of her balcony. "Just get inside and out of sight until I draw the guy away, okay?" While Chat had his head turned toward Marinette, the Akuma was knocking cars and motorcycles out of its path. One daft person actually thought they could salvage their motorcycle. Seeing Marinette's eyes widen in alarm, Chat Noir whipped his head around back toward the action. "That lunatic! What the heck is he doing??" Chat nearly launched himself off the balcony then and there to save the rider but a hand had gripped his arm with remarkable strength and speed before he could.

"Wait! Don't!!!" Marinette cried out. At that moment she had been watching the events unfolding at ground level, she got this sick sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and had grabbed the superhero's arm desperately. She couldn't let Chat get close to the Akuma. A split second later, she realized why.

As the rider ran to pick up his motorcycle and drive off on it, the akumatized victim spotted the rider, squinted through his glasses and as the glasses glowed, they emitted a ray of light that hit the rider. The rider disappeared into a cloud of gas, water, and debris. All that was left of the rider was his helmet and clothes which from the force of the ray of energy had flown into the air and fell, empty, to the ground. 

Marinette let out a sharp gasp the same time Chat cried out "Whoa!!" It took them a moment to process what had just happened. The villain laughed, tilting his head back and crying out to the sky "Did you think you could escape Dr. Greenhouse?" With one tentacle-like, branch appendage he poked at the now empty clothes. "Not so tough when broken down into your basic chemical components are you parasite?" With a dash of his tentacle, he sent the motorcycle flying right in Chat and Marinette's direction. 

"Mari!" Chat yelled and tackled the girl to the opposite side of her balcony as the motorcycle crashed right where they had been standing. 

Marinette rolled with chat on top of her to the side and had to gasp for breath as the wind had gotten knocked clean out of her. 

"Are you okay?" Chat asked looking down at Marinette quickly to see if she was injured. Marinette could merely nod, not trusting her voice just then. Chat jumped into a defensive crouch just above her, trying to shield Marinette from anything else that might come their way. Unfortunately, the direction of the flying motorcycle and the subsequent quick retreat of the couple on the roof had alerted the akuma that he had found at least one miraculous holder. 

"Ahhhh! What do we have here?" Dr. Greenhouse turned his gaze to the top of Marinette's family home and bakery. With a low rumble, the ground around Dr. Greenhouse cracked slightly. He had dug his roots into the street and using the nutrients from the ground made his leg appendages grow at an alarming rate until he could finally see on top of the building. "Well if it isn't Ladybug's pet cat." The akumatized scientist made a show of adjusting his glasses while he cackled. "You're smaller than I imagined you'd be, I hardly saw you there." 

"Yeah well," Chat came out of his crouch to step between Marinette and Dr. Greenhouse's line of vision. "We can't all chug a gallon of Miracle Grow and sprout up like the Jolly Green Giant, can we?" He raised an arm to rest his baton across his shoulders, head cocked to one side mockingly. With his free hand behind his back, he motioned secretly to Marinette to get up and get closer to him. 

Knowing her partner well enough to know what Chat was planning, she immediately and silently complied, keeping as low and out of sight as possible. Once directly behind Chat, she placed her hand in the hand Chat held behind his back. He squeezed her hand in acknowledgment. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Greenhouse seemed to be having a dialogue with Hawkmoth, as his eyes glowed and he was replying to unheard questions. "Yes... Yes, I understand. You shall have the miraculous of the cat boy, and I will have an easier time squashing the bug when she decides to show herself."

Deciding to take advantage of the interlude, Chat whipped Marinette's hand up and around his shoulder crouching down slightly. Marinette jumped onto his back and wrapped her legs and remaining arm securely within a second. "You'll have to catch me first you termite hotel!" With that, he leapt off of Marinette's roof and off across the roofs and alleyways of Paris.  
****  
Marinette, looked over her shoulder to see if Chat was still occupied, then quickly popped her purse open and looked in on her Kwami. "Tikki, you ok? I'm sorry if I squished you at all." She whispered, glancing over her shoulder nervously.

"It's okay Marinette. I'm a Kwami. I'm much tougher than you think I am." Tikki gave a wink and patted the finger that was on the clasp of the little purse reassuringly. 

Afraid Chat would notice her talking to Tikki; she smiled and nodded at her little pink and black polka-dotted friend before giving a little wave with her finger and loosely closing her purse again. 

Walking back, she could hear crashes within the hotel and see Chat's ears twitching back and forth as he listened to the chaos outside. 

"Marinette, I need you to stay hidden and stay safe. I have to try to get this guy out of the hotel." Chat was about to turn to leave when he felt a tug on his tail. He turned to see Marinette holding the end of it.

"Wait Chat, I think there's a better way. Please..." Marinette knew as a civilian she couldn't just rely on Chat's blind faith in her as Ladybug to make decisions, but she wasn't sure what else to do at this point. She looked down at Chat's tail between her hands but didn't release him. "I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me or my judgment, but..." Marinette looked up at chat with big, blue, pleading eyes, "I have a plan. And if it works, it will keep a lot of people from having to be transformed and will contain the akuma until Ladybug can take care of it." 

Chat pursed his lips; he turned to look at the door where he could hear the sounds of crashing furniture and the voice of the akuma calling out to him on the other side. Luckily because of the alarm, the hotel patrons knew to stay in their rooms and out of the way of the bulk of the damage. Chat looked back at Marinette, 'had her eyes always been that amazing shade of crystallized blue' he wondered. He had to blink and breathe to clear his mind. They reminded him of another pair of impossibly blue eyes, though he knew that wasn't why he trusted Marinette. Besides Ladybug, he knew Marinette to be one of the smartest, most level-headed and brave people he knew. Chat nodded and with a small smile took a step towards his petite friend. "You got it, Princess."

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at the same moment releasing his tail. She didn't want her partner facing that thing alone without any kind of plan. She had already had several minor heart attacks as it was with all the close calls today.

"Ok, so here is what we're going to do. I'm going to need you to grab one of the mirrors off of the wall over there." She pointed to the huge mirrors over a vanity area. Chat nodded and hurried to go and grab one. 

"Okay, so where do you...Marinette what the fuck??" Chat's eyes widened in shock as he saw his classmate stripping down to her underwear. He was struggling, he really wanted to look away, and eventually, he did but Marinette had a more athletic build than he ever gave her credit for. She had a tight, small muscular body that was strong and still very feminine at the same time. Chat Noir was doing everything he could to keep his mind out of the gutter, but even the (not so) brief glimpse that he had of the blue- tinted, black haired girl before him had sent his heart racing past the speed of light.

"Language Kitty!" Marinette scolded while at the same time turning beet red. With one hand she was clutching her clothing to her torso, covering as much as she could of her pastel pink underwear with black lace trim. Why did she have to wear the ones with the paw prints on her butt? She was sure she'd never hear the end of it if Chat caught sight of them. "Just pretend I'm wearing a bathing suit, okay?" She went as far as taking off her shoes and socks as well. She needed her ruse to be convincing. "How good are you at causing a distraction?" Finding it impractical to carry her clothes and get things done, she abandoned them on the nearby vanity.

"Oh, I distract pretty girl...P-Pretty GOOD, pretty good. Dis...Good. Distract good. Pretty good. I distract pretty good." Chat cleared his throat, his fist in front of his mouth and his eyes averted from Marinette's direction for good measure. The mirror had suddenly become very interesting to him as he resumed a death grip on it. "So what are we doing exactly?" He managed to get out after clearing his throat, not without his voice cracking in the middle of his sentence, but Chat found it an accomplishment that he was able to get anything understandable out at all.

Marinette was in the process of placing the mirror she had managed to pry out of Chat's hands against a chair that faced the door to the ladies' room. Looking back at Chat over her shoulder, (and even as she was blushing) she managed a determined smile. "We're going to give that walking tree a taste of his own medicine."


	2. Getting a Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward encounters, a failed plan, and mixed emotions. Chat Noir and Marinette have a prickly situation on their hands with limited resources and even more limited time. Will Marinette be able to keep from letting the cat out of the bag on her identity?

“I think you’re one of the only teenagers I know that carries around a sewing kit.” Chat was helping Marinette (as best he could with his clawed hands) just lightly sew single strands of thread around her arms legs and torso and onto her clothes. Marinette’s clothes at the moment were only covering the front of her body. Her plan called for her to still have the appearance of her clothes on without actually having them fully on her.

Chat Noir was pretty sure, with how much his heart was pounding and how many times he gulped in the past few minutes that his mouth would never be wet again and that he’d die of a heart attack; though the order was debatable.

“I happen to be into fashion, and you never know when you’ll rip a seam or pop a button,” Marinette said in a very matter of fact tone. She was trying very hard to be professional about her current situation. She really was, despite the blush that felt like it was creeping down her entire body as if it would permanently give her the appearance of being sunburnt. Every time one of Chat’s clawed hands brushed against bare skin though, her pulse would race and her breath would catch slightly. She was trying desperately hard to be casual about the intimate contact for both of their sakes but it was clear they weren’t fooling each other at all.

“There. I think that’s the last slip knot on this side. The side that has the hard knots looks okay. What do you think?” Placing the sewing needle between his lips for safe keeping, Chat took a step back to survey his handiwork.

Marinette looked at her reflection in the mirror, turning slightly this way and that. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw one side of her shorts drooping noticeably. “The left side isn’t tight enough. Do you have enough slack to tie that tighter?”

Chat went around the back of Mari to check how loose the thread was exactly. He caught sight of the paw prints on her backside, something he had a hard time keeping his eyes off of the whole time he was inexpertly tailoring the makeshift outfit. He ducked his head, trying to hide the smile that came to his lips as he tightened the string by pinching it and tried to tie it, without setting off the slipknot, but it kept slipping out of his gloved fingers.

“Nope, looks like we’ll just have to sew a new thread there. Here hand me the thread.” Chat said as he took the needle out of his mouth. He held out a gloved hand as Marinette once again handed him the small spool of thread that came with her sewing kit. She had been very careful to only open her purse as much as necessary to pull out the kit (with a little kwami help).

With a few tweaks of the thread, (and a good deal more blushing on either side) Cat had managed to fix the drooping corner of the shorts. “Okay, now hand me those little scissors again and I think we’ll be done.”

As Marinette was handing Chat Noir the scissors, they both made the mistake of looking directly into each other’s eyes. With matching blushes on their cheeks, Marinette’s breath hitched and Chat gulped again, and neither saw the moment the tiny scissors slipped from Marinette’s fingers to bounce off of the tips of Chat’s outstretched fingers. Chat was quickest to recover and made a grab for them but the scissors had fallen to the floor and skittered under the many stalls. Chat groaned.

“Sorry, I’ll go look for them.” He started to get up when Marinette shook her head.

“There’s no time.” Looking at the bathroom door she could hear Dr. Greenhouse zapping away at the hotel, trying to flush them out. “Any moment now, that door is going to be the next thing to go.” Marinette looked down at the needle still attached to the end of the thread. “We just need one more thing to do with that and we need to hurry, just…” Marinette looked away from Chat’s searching eyes to be able to say the next part of her sentence without stuttering. “Just bite the thread.”

Chat looked down at the thread and gulped. “H-How much of the rest of the thread do you need…because…” he unraveled the rest of the small spool and the thread ran out on it after about six feet.

Marinette’s eyes grew wide. “That’s all that’s left? Ugh! I’d been meaning to replace that spool.” Marinette sighed and looked down at herself, making some quick calculations. “So here’s what we need to do. Get as close as you can to the knot on the piece you just sewed and carefully cut off the thread that was loose to begin with, then we’ll add that to the length of what we have on the spool.”

Chat froze. He didn’t even gulp. He was pretty sure there wasn’t any saliva left to gulp with anyway. “Are…that means I-I’m … I mean….are you okay…with me…you know, getting that…that close?” He blinked a few times; pretty sure he wasn't processing what she said correctly.

At that moment they both heard something very close to the door get zapped and sound like it fell against the wall. Looking back at Chat meaningfully Marinette gave a single determined nod.

Chat carefully let out a measured breath then set his shoulders determinedly. Pulling the thread that was still attached to the needle taught, he placed one hand gently onto her hip so he could hold that side of the string still and not disturb the slip knot he tied. He dropped to one knee in front of her, hesitated for a second, and then bent his head to bite the thread.

Marinette and Chat were both dead quiet, their shallow breathing and quick heartbeats the only indication of the tension they both felt. Marinette was looking down at Chat’s back directly in front of her. She could feel the leather of Chat’s glove pressing into the material of her shorts at her hip and wrap around to her backside and the thinner material of her underwear. She could feel his claws through the thin cotton and her stomach fluttered with a nervous, almost a yearning feeling. She swallowed and closed her eyes a moment when his soft hair grazed the back of her hip, his breath warm a moment near the small of her back, sending goosebumps up and down her entire body.

Chat was fairing no better. He was trying to think about kittens, puppies, anything to keep his mind from wandering to Mari's half covered body that he was so close to. He could literally just lean his head slightly to the side and feel how warm and soft her skin was for himself, but he closed his eyes for a moment and did his best to banish the thought from his mind. This was his friend and she needed him right now! 'Jeez Agreste, get a hold of yourself!' He thought as his mind tried to wander again. He made short work of the first string and was on the second when it happened.

The knot for the loose string was on Marinette's right-hand side. Instead of circling around to her back, (something Chat considered way too dangerous a task to accomplish at the moment) he shifted and knelt to the right, expecting to quickly bite off the thread as he had on the other side. Unfortunately, the angle was different and as he bit down on the string, it refused to give as freely as the other side had. His brows furrowed and he applied a little more weight and force. When the thread finally snapped, his head did exactly as he had been thinking just moments before with the sudden release of the thread. His hair, a fair amount of his cheek and the corner of his lips brushed the small of Marinette's back. 

Two thoughts occurred to him at the same time. The first being 'Oh my God I'm dead.' The second thought was 'Holy crap, what a way to go!' before he could stop himself. Her skin was even softer and warmer than he had imagined just moments before. His lips tingled slightly from where they had made contact. Chat immediately jumped up to apologize and froze. 

He didn’t realize when he stood up how close he’d be to Marinette. Marinette was so close she had to look up at Chat to look into his eyes. Her face flushed, lips parted and eyes widened and slightly glazed over; whatever she had been about to say completely gone from her mind. Her parted lips drew Chat's attention to her mouth. He stared at her mouth a moment, his own tongue wetting his lips nervously before his eyes flashed back up to Marinette's who was watching him just as intensely. For just a moment, they stared into each other's eyes, leaning closer to each other as if a magnet were slowly pulling them together. Just as they reached out, one for the other, a huge smashing sound like a grand piano being dropped startled them both back to reality. Instinctively they both had stepped back; they're mutual focus darting to the door then back to each other. 

They stood awkwardly like that as they both caught their breath and their heart rates. Chat looked down and away with one hand scratching the back of his neck, while Marinette held herself in a one-armed awkward hug, not really knowing how to feel. Marinette was the first to speak up. "We-we need to finish up. Quick."

Chat nodded and then balked, realizing what he nearly did. What they nearly did. He looked at Marinette penitently before speaking, "Marinette, I'm sor..."

"Don't." Marinette cut him off, feeling partially to blame and not quite sure she didn't want whatever nearly happened to have continued. She caught where her thoughts were going and guiltily shook her head to clear it. "There's nothing to apologize for." With a small smile to try and reassure Chat Noir, she struggled to get her brain working again and back on track. "Besides, we've got work to do. Let's Hurry."

A few minutes later, a black-gloved, clawed hand crept around the edge of the ladies' room door. Chat met with some resistance trying to push the door open, then he looked down and realized why. The ground was covered in moss and thick foliage. The lobby as he looked around had been completely transformed into an indoor jungle. The air hung humid and fragrant with all the different plants and flowers that found new homes in and on desks, chairs, stairwells, and chandeliers among other things. There wasn't a spot that wasn't covered by some type of plant. 

He looked back at Marinette who nodded encouragement to him. Her hand was wrapped with the tail end of the leftover thread that was looped around a wall sconce and attached to her clothes. Chat looked out the door once more, then back at Marinette before he strode back to Marinette and hugged her gently, so as not to disturb the slip knots he'd so carefully tied. He stepped back but kept his hands on her shoulders to let her know how serious he was being.

"You can still back out you know. You don't have to do this."

Marinette shook her head firmly. "Chat this was my idea..." 

"I know Mari. But this is very dangerous. I'm not sure when Ladybug is going to get here, and even if it's temporary, I'd hate to see you...I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

Marinette smiled gently. "I'm tougher than I look Kitty. I'll be fine." With her free hand, Marinette couldn't resist the impulse to brush a strand of hair that had fallen in Chat's face out of the way, blushing a little as she did so.

"Listen to me okay?" Chat caught her hand as it was coming down, looking with concern into Marinette's eyes. "If anything happens, if things take a bad turn, I want you to run." Chat watched Marinette's expression to make sure she was taking him as seriously as he meant it. "I'll cover you and make sure you make it out okay. But I want you to run, hide, do whatever you need to do to stay safe."

Marinette's gaze became tender, she knew Chat Noir could be protective but, for whatever reason this felt different. Maybe because as Ladybug, Chat knew she could take care of herself. Whereas civilian Marinette, well, even she knew she was a bit accident prone. She was nonetheless touched by his concern. "Don't worry Chat. I'll take care of myself. I promise."

Chat stared at her a moment longer worried despite her promise. Pulling her closer with the hand he still held, he whispered into her ear "Be safe Marinette," before stepping back, giving the back of her hand a quick kiss and pushing the door open. He paused at the opening, turned his head as if he were about to look back before straightening and walking out with a good deal more confidence than he felt.

Marinette stood wide-eyed and immobile. She knew her Chat Noir, or at least she thought she did. He usually only reserved such attentions toward her superhero self. Everything about that day had been pretty strange, to be sure, but Chat...the moment a while ago where he, where they almost... it was a little bit too much for her to process in a moment where her focus needed to be on the task at hand. 

"Marinette? Are you ok?" Tikki asked from where she had left her purse on the vanity counter. The little Kwami's forehead was furrowed with worry. Marinette seemed really introspective to her and that usually meant something was bothering her emotionally.

"Yeah, Tikki. Sorry. Just a little lost in thought is all." Suddenly Marinette was worried and looked toward Tikki. "You didn't... I mean... when Chat, when I almost..." Marinette was blushing just trying to get out what she was trying to say.

"When you and Chat Noir nearly kissed? Yes, I saw that." Tikki said with a playful smile.

"Tikki!" Marinette rasped out in a scolding whisper. 

"What? It's nothing to be ashamed of Marinette." Tikki flew close enough to Marinette to give her cheek a quick hug. "You two have been partners a while now." Tikki fluttered back and shrugged her tiny shoulders and her smile widened. "It's natural that you'd develop some feelings for him, you both mean a lot to each other."

"But he doesn't know it's me! Well, you know what I mean. He doesn't know I'm Ladybug. And what about Adrien? I mean, I still like him, but I feel like besides becoming better friends with each other, I haven't really gotten anywhere with him." Marinette sighed then got mad at herself. "And what am I doing thinking about my love life when I should be focusing on the akuma??"

"Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed trying to get Marinette's attention through her self-chastizing. "Calm down. You're human, that means you're an emotional creature by nature; you more than most." Tikki giggled at the dry look Marinette gave her. "That's not a bad thing. It means you're a compassionate person and that you're the perfect pick for your miraculous." Marinette's expression melted into a warm smile. Tikki nodded matter of factly and continued, "As far as Adrien and Chat..." Tikki paused a moment tapping her chin with one arm, trying to think of how to phrase her next sentence. "Sometimes when you stop stressing about what you want, it has a funny way of coming and finding you." 

Marinette sighed and her shoulders drooped a bit. "Ok Master Fu. That doesn't really tell me anything." Marinette teased Tikki for imitating her Guardian's enigmatic way of providing advice. Tikki giggled and crossed her little arms in front of her shaking her head. "Don't worry so much Marinette. Follow what your heart is telling you." Tikki zoomed up to Marinette gave her nose a little nuzzle and flew back a bit to be able to look into her eyes. "Trust me, it won't lead you astray." Marinette smiled at her Kwami warmly before they both jumped at the cackle they heard.

“Time to work Tikki.” Marinette said determinedly. Tikki nodded and flew back to Marinette’s purse to keep out of sight until she was needed.

As per his instructions, Chat Noir left the ladies room door stuck open. He walked out into the lobby area looking around for any sign of Dr. Greenhouse. He gave out a whistle and poked at a particularly strange looking plant. “Not sure the Bourgeois are going to enjoy the new remodel of their hotel lobby.” Chat though looking nonchalant, had his senses on high alert for any signs, scents or sounds of movement. He heard Marinette’s voice briefly and was about to look back when he heard a slithering sound close to his feet and literally jumped up and back through the air. "Ghuh!" He let out a disgusted and slightly horrified sound, dancing out of the way of whatever was slithering so close to his feet. 

The slithering sounds were coming from roots being pulled back and bunched up toward what looked like a tree that was slowly detaching itself from a pillar; until the tree blinked. Crackling and branches snapping can be heard as Dr. Greenhouse pulled himself away from the rest of the foliage that had engulfed the lobby. The akumatized scientist let out a maniacal cackle. "What's the matter little kitten? Don't like my additions to the decor?"

"I hate to say it but it 'leafs' much to be desired." Chat's ears twitched side to side, trying to make sure Dr. Greenhouse didn't have any other surprises that were going to jump out at him from the sides. "Listen, I'm willing to comply with your demands, but you need to let my friend go." Chat gestured to the ladies room where Marinette carefully stepped into sight. "She's an innocent bystander," Chat continued on, concern evident in his voice. "She's not hurting anyone, and if you let her go, I'll give you my miraculous, fair and square. What do ya say?" Chat had his hands out in a questioning shrug. 

Dr. Greenhouse looked down at him speculatively through glasses that had grown huge foot-long thorny branches from each of the corners of the lenses, wrapping and twisting in several directions. Smiling through teeth that looked like bleached beach wood Dr. Greenhouse narrowed his eyes at Chat. "I may have spared your friend if you hadn't been so much of a bother to track down, but..." Chat heard the slithering sound and jumped a moment too late. A root had wrapped around his foot and before he could blink, Chat was hanging upside-down by one ankle. Dr. Greenhouse held him aloft snickering. "All I want to do now is show you what amazing fertilizer your friend will make for my lovely plants." Dr. Greenhouse's glasses began to glow and a ray shot toward the ladies room door.

"NO!! Marinette!!!" Chat yelled out as he watched in horror. 

Marinette screamed and once the blast cleared away all that could be seen was a pile of what looked like sand and Marinette's clothes. Chat couldn't breathe. He wasn't sure if Marinette was okay or not. The mirror was supposed to reflect Dr. Greenhouse's ray back at him, much like how ladybug had defeated Pixelator, the akumatized crazed fan of Jagged Stone. Chat stared at the pile of sand and a feral growl started deep in his chest growing quickly into a full-on roar as he let out a ferocious "CATACLYSM!!" He did a sit up and slashed for the root that was still holding his ankle but Dr. Greenhouse tossed him against the wall before his curse activated hand could make contact. 

Chat jumped back up livid. The room was covered in green foliage but all he saw at the moment was red. He slashed, again and again at Dr. Greenhouse, flipping off what used to be tables and desks and ducking behind the akuma made foliage, all the while trying not to set off his cataclysm until he could make it count. Dr. Greenhouse, in turn, was trying to zap Chat with the rays from his glasses, simultaneously lashing out while being careful to keep his trailing roots away from Chat's activated hand. As Chat forward flipped himself onto what should have been the banister of a staircase to try to get some leverage on the crazed scientist, he saw a flash of pink come from the ladies room. Blinking, his heart racing from his exertions as well as this nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, he turned his head just in time to see a very welcome and familiar sight. Ladybug herself strode out of the ladies room, unseen by the akumatized victim who was now facing chat and about to take aim with his 'ray bans' again. She happened to have a chainsaw in her hand and with one hard pull of the opposite hand, set the tool buzzing with a slightly smug smile on her face. 

"Dr. Greenhouse I presume? You have been a thorn in my side aaaaall day!" Ladybug announced in a singsong voice. Greenhouse had startled at the sound of a chainsaw behind him and had turned his focus to Ladybug a second too late. "Ain't nobody got thyme for that." Ladybug finished before throwing the chainsaw up in the air where it cut the links for what used to be the chandelier, which was now engulfed in tons of hanging vines. With the release of the tension from the chain holding the chandelier, the vines came crashing down on Dr. Greenhouse acting as a net. 

Chat was beside himself and hadn't moved since Ladybug had exited the ladies room. What the heck kind of alternate universe was he in? Ladybug, his Ladybug was joking and making multiple puns, and he was sure that Marinette was the only person in that bathroom with him, but that's where Ladybug just came from. While Chat was still trying to get a clue, Ladybug had already jumped her way up Dr. Greenhouse's towering body and grabbed his glasses from his still struggling figure. Her yo-yo tying the fallen vines taut around Dr. Greenhouse, she held the akumatized victim in place with one hand while quickly tossing the glasses toward Chat Noir. "Here Kitty! You know what to do!"

On instinct, Chat Noir snatched the thrown glasses out of the air with his activated hand. The glasses promptly turned to a charcoaled substance in his hand and released the akuma into the air. 

"No more evil doing for you little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Marinette released the neutralized villain and swung her yo-yo out to catch the akuma and purify it. 

It was in watching Ladybug doing her finishing routine, that it finally hit Chat. 'That's Marinette. Ladybug is Marinette. My Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.' He watched as she threw the chainsaw, which was her charmed item this time around, up in the air and sent the magic of the Miraculous flying in all directions, righting the damage that the akuma had caused and putting the hotel and surrounding area back to normal.

Hands on hips and nodding at a job well done she turned to the victim who had gotten akumatized. "Sir? Are you okay?" 

"Where am I? How did I get here?" The man in a white lab coat adjusted his glasses and took the hand offered by Ladybug to help him into a standing position. At that moment the police nationale showed up, entering the lobby tentatively at first then when they realized the danger had passed, they came in with a more relaxed stride. 

Gesturing to the police Ladybug led the man gently. "You fell victim to one of Hawk Moth's akumas. The police should be able to fill you in and get you to wherever you were before the attack." The man nodded, still a bit dazed and cooperated with the police who were questioning him about what he remembered before being akumatized.

Ladybug had turned to fist bump Chat and say their usual 'Pound it' but only turned to empty space. She turned this way and that looking for him and found him sitting on the main staircase, looking dazed, staring at the ground in front of him, and then it hit her. 'He knows.' She thought. She wasn't sure how she herself felt about it yet. She wasn't sure if his daze was coming just from surprise, or maybe disappointment or disillusionment. She walked tentatively over to him her hand grabbing her free arm in an awkward hug and leaned to the side a little to try to better see his expression. "Chat? Chat Noir? Kitty? Are you...are you okay?"

Chat looked up into Ladybug's face dazed for about a second more, then sprang up from where he was sitting to grab Ladybug into a tight hug. "Ma....M'lady. I'm glad you're ok. You had me worried there for a little bit." Chat pulled back and studied Ladybug's face.

She could tell with how intensely Chat was looking at her, he was looking at all the signs he had missed on who she really was and it made her a little nervous. She started to open her mouth to respond back when a flood of reporters came in. Chat's ring was beeping, he only had one toe and the pad of the paw lit up on his miraculous ring. Chat was still holding her in place so she raised a hand to gently pat his and tilted her head with a smile to reassure him, "It's okay if you don't stick around. I'll handle the press then bug out." 

Chat nodded then stepped back about to run off when he felt a tug on his tail. He turned back toward Ladybug questioningly and saw that she had her head turned, not quite meeting his gaze. "Ummm...coud I...could we meet for patrol tonight?" Ladybug finally looked up at him and he could see the concern in her big blue eyes. "I just want to go over a few things, about today."

Chat's heart was beating fast and he couldn't imagine why. It wasn't the first time Ladybug had called on an emergency patrol, but he knew this wasn't going to be their normal routine. It would still be a first though. Especially now with Chat knowing who his partner really was. He wasn't quite sure he was ready for such a meeting, but he gave a smile and a wink anyway and just before he ran off he told her quietly. "As you wish, M'lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked the chapter. It was a little shorter this time because I wanted to devote a little time next chapter for Chat and Marinette to have a proper freak out about their current situation. As always questions, comments, and feedback are more than welcome. See you next chapter!


	3. Terms and Conditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bug is out of the bag now on Marinette's identity. How will this affect our two star-crossed heroes? How will this affect their partnership?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **SPOILER ALERT*** If you haven't watched recent episodes of season 2, you may be mad at me if you read this chapter. It's mostly just mentions of events, but consider yourselves warned. ^.~

"God I'm an idiot! I'm a complete and total idiot!" Adrien flopped backward onto his plush and expansive bed. He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes like he was trying to block out all the things that were running rampant in his mind and groaned. 

Plagg sat by unaffected by his charge's distress and proceeded to chomp down on a slice of camembert, (which was bigger than his head) that Adrien usually had ready for him in a mini-fridge in his room. "I know that, and you know that, but tell me why you know that and I'll tell you if you're right." Plagg managed to defy the laws of physics and shoved the rest of the camembert into his little, four-inch cat figured body.

Adrien dropped his hands splayed out to his sides and merely turned his head to dart a dirty look at his kwami. "You were there Plagg. You may not have been in your own form but I know you're aware of your surroundings even when I'm Chat Noir." 

"Hey, I'm just trying to get clarification here." Plagg shrugged his tiny shoulders, a glint in his eyes. " Are we talking about you telling Marinette your little nick-name for her, not knowing your partner has been in the same class with you for four years, you nearly kissing the girl of your dreams and not realizing it, or you realizing that you've been confessing your love for Ladybug to Ladybug since you were a kid?" By the time he finished the little black furred Kwami had a wicked smile on his face and was trying so hard not to laugh and ruin his delivery.

Adrien paled, turned over on his bed and let out a strangled yell into his pillow.

"All of the above then." Plagg nodded matter of factly. "Good, we're on the same page."

"My head is going to explode," Adrien said half-muffled as he turned his head part of the way out of his pillow to be able to make himself heard. Sitting up abruptly he turned to his kwami and held up his hands in exasperation. "What am I going to do Plagg?"

"I'll tell you the first thing you need to do," Plagg said with an air of importance so that Adrien looked at him intently for an answer "order me some more camembert. Your mini-fridge is nearly empty." 

Adrien gave Plagg a dry look and put his elbows on his knees, his hands raking through his hair in exasperation. "This is serious Plagg! I don't know how I'm going to ever face her again. She must think I'm a total...a total..."

"Idiot?"

"YES!!"

Plagg sighed, covering his smile as best he could with his little arm, trying to look pensive instead of full of mirth, he flew over to try to console his charge. "Kid, if she hasn't denounced you as a partner yet, I'm sure you're going to be fine." 

Adrien merely groaned, he didn't know that was even a thing. Now he was even more worried. Plagg merely shook his head and landed on Adrien's shoulder. "Sentiment ain't really my thing kid, so let me just shoot it to ya straight." Plagg waited until he was sure he got the blonde haired boy's attention and gave a small, what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Ladybug is probably more worried about what you think about her right now than the other way around." Adrien looked at Plagg astonished and the little kwami merely nodded his head and continued. "She's vulnerable right now. She's de-masked. Her identity was something she managed to keep hidden from everyone, now all of a sudden you know who she is." 

Plagg tilted his head sideways to see if Adrien was getting any of this. Adrien sat pensive, considering, then looked back up at Plagg. Plagg continued, "You know Marinette. You know she is always worried if others are happy and if she's doing everything she can to help them to be happy." 

Adrien smiled and nodded but was a little confused. "Yeah, okay, so...?"

Plagg gave him an exasperated snort. "So since she's such a sweetie, she's going to be worried if you're ok with who she turned out to be. That's one of the things I like about her. Well that, and the goodies she brings us sometimes from the bakery." Plagg smacked his lips and Adrien let out a small guffaw of amusement.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right Plagg."

"What are you talking about? I'm always right!" The kwami feigned offense.

Adrien rolled his eyes but continued. "She's probably just as worried about all of this as I am. Maybe even more." Adrien took a moment to consider this information before turning his attention back to Plagg.

"So what are you waiting for kid? She needs you."

"Right!" Adrien stood up about to do his transformation when he stopped and looked at Plagg sincerely. "Hey, Plagg?"

"Yeah, Kid?"

"Thank you...you know...for everything."

"Yeah, yeah. Enough with the mush already." Plagg waved a paw in dismissal. "Let's go and get your princess."

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Adrien asked half smirking.

"Kwamis have very, very long life spans," Plagg said grinning maliciously.

Adrien shook his head and chuckled lightly before announcing, "Claws out Plagg."

*****

Tikki sighed. She was sure Marinette was going to wear a hole into her bedroom floor with all the pacing she was doing. Since Marinette had wrapped up her quick interview at the hotel, she went straight home and hadn't stopped fretting and over analyzing the whole day, well to be truthful, her whole experience as Ladybug. Tikki had tried her best to talk her down, but couldn't say anything with any kind of certainty until they met with Chat Noir. 

"Please sit down for a bit Marinette, you'll wear yourself out." Tikki had settled on Marinette's desk where Marinette had left her some of her favorite chocolate chip cookies. Tikki munched forlornly on a cookie, genuinely worried about Marinette's state of mind. Out of all the miraculous holders, she had been one of the only ones who wasn't known to any of the other miraculous holders. Tikki understood the reason why she was so cautious and had even applauded her efforts toward discretion. As a Ladybug, she couldn't afford to let her identity leak out. She was the only one able to purify Akuma, and so being one of the most powerful, she was also the most vulnerable. Carapace and Rena Rouge had long known each other's identities, and who didn't know Queen Bee's identity by now? But Chat Noir and Ladybug had always been under the agreement that their identities had to be held a secret. Of course Chat Noir had wanted several times to dismiss with the formality, but Ladybug had always been worried that if either of them was ever compromised by an akuma, it could be a huge risk to them both. 

"Tikki, I couldn't sit still if I wanted to. If I were going the speed of the thoughts that keep running through my head, I could have gone around the world twice already." Marinette finally stopped to flop down on her fainting couch. "What am I going to do Tikki? This is a disaster! A disaster, a disaster a DISASTER!!" She fell backward onto her couch, arms splayed out to either side. "Did you see him?? He was just sitting there on the stairs! I know he's disappointed! He probably wishes it was anyone else but me!" 

"That's not true Marinette!" Tikki flew over Marinette's face to make sure she'd get through to the distraught girl. "Chat Noir could never think badly of you! He admires you so much. I'm sure he was just shocked to finally know the truth is all." Her little arms went out in an expansive gesture for emphasis.

"And what about my family? What will happen if Chat gets akumatized like queen bee did? Or if one of the akumatized victims get a hold of him and turns him against me again?" Marinette sat up and Tikki had to swish back out of the way as Marinette started her agitated pacing again. "How do I keep us safe now?" 

"By being stronger as a team," Tikki said with confidence. "You see it as a weakness that Chat knows who you are, I see it as a strength." Tikki kept pace with Marinette trying to hold her charge's attention away from her current anxieties. "Chat knowing who you are, means he'll be more proactive about protecting you and your family. He'd never EVER knowingly endanger you, and you know that." Marinette looked at Tikki and finally stopped pacing. She folded her arms over her chest and nodded absently.

"You're right Tikki. Chat Noir does everything he can to keep me safe, but that also means that he puts himself in danger to do so. That's why he's been the victim of several akuma attacks." Marinette looked with sad, scared eyes toward Tikki. Tikki nodded solemnly but refused to give in to negativity.

"Yes, I understand," Tikki smiled gently to Marinette, "but think of it this way. Chat now is able to trust you more, is able to find you in your civilian form in case of an emergency, and can get a hold of you in case of an akuma attack that he knows of but you still haven't found out about." Marinette held her hands out and Tikki settled herself on them, landing as lightly as a feather. "Your bond together will only become stronger. Remember you are two halves of the same whole. The power of creation, and the power of destruction." Tikki held up first one arm, then the other before bringing the two together. "You can only become stronger as a team, your miraculous balance each other." 

"Like yin and yang?" Marinette asked, tilting her head to the side pensively.

"Exactly. You are the Yang of creation and Chat Noir is the Yin of destruction. Neither can exist without the other or there will be chaos until there is balance again." Tikki smiled up at Marinette, and in her eyes, Marinette could see the wisdom of so many, many years passed in her limpid blue eyes. 

"Okay, Tikki. I trust your judgment, and I'll do my best not to worry in that respect, but that still leaves..." At that moment they both heard a soft knock on the skylight that leads out to Marinette's balcony. "Chat Noir." Marinette finished in a near whisper and looked at Tikki.

Tikki flew out of her hand and gave Marinette's forehead a kiss. "Don't be worried. He's still your partner and more importantly your friend. Knowing who you are won't change any of that." Marinette managed a small smile and gave a small nod, breathing deeply.

"Okay. I think I'm ready."

*****

"I'm not ready. Why did I think I was ready? Stupid little cat kwami, why did I let him talk me into this?" Chat had already been pacing several minutes on the balcony of Marinette's family home, arms crossed over his chest in agitation. Somehow every time he thought of it as Marinette's home, as Ladybug's home, his stomach would drop and he'd have erratic heart palpitations.

On his way over, he was still riding off of Plagg's words, feeling like he was doing something noble by coming and talking to Marinette. Now that he was here, all of his anxieties began to resurface. "Come on Agreste. You can do this. You are Chat Noir. Your lady needs you." He said in the way of a self-directed pep talk and finally stopped pacing long enough to go and knock on the skylight to Marinette's room. Even so, he barely tapped at it, almost as if he hoped she wouldn't hear him. In a few moments, he could see a silhouette on the other side of the tinted glass and his pulse began to race as he stepped back to give her room.

Marinette pushed open the skylight, and even though she knew exactly who to expect her breath hitched a moment and they both just stared at each other for a few tension-filled seconds. Chat couldn't help but stare at Marinette, he was still mentally kicking himself. How had he gotten so lucky to have one of his best friends also be his partner and the love of his life? How had he not noticed it was her? Those bluebell eyes, her signature pigtail hairstyle, the creamy color of her cheeks and how they were so quick to flush a bright and rosy pink when she was flustered. He had to be the luckiest, albeit dumbest cat in the world.

Chat could see that flush, even as the early evening dusk started to cast shadows over the world. He knew then that she cared, and that she was worried. All he wanted to do was put her mind at ease. So he put on his best, most genuine Chat Noir smile and with one arm on his chest, the other behind his back, he bowed deeply to Marinette, "M'lady, I know I'm a bit early for patrol, but I was worried about you."

"Worried? About me? W-why would you be worried about me?" Marinette was genuinely astonished. Here she had been anxious that the first thing out of Chat's mouth may have been something out of anger, or disappointment, or even something satirical but he'd been genuinely concerned about her. In the back of her head, she berated herself. 'It's Chat, he's always cared. Why wouldn't he now?'

Chat smiled warmly and could tell just by Marinette's tone and wording, that she had expected a much different reception. Chat immediately set to righting that misperception and held a hand out to her to help her out of the skylight. "I figured with how we left things earlier, you might want to discuss a few things with me. You know, to kind of clear the air?"

Marinette took the offered hand and stepped out of the skylight but balked a moment. "Clear the air? Do you feel like we need to clear the air?" Marinette's anxiety started to go into overdrive. Had she done something wrong after all? Was there something wrong with her? Or how she had handled the situation earlier?

Chat held out his hands waving them back and forth in front of him also beginning to panic a little. "No, I mean the air is clear. Like crystal clear. I'm just saying that it seemed like we needed to talk, not that anything's wrong...or...or anything...just..."

"Both of you take a deep breath and calm down!" A tiny voice declared with an amazing amount of volume for such a small creature. Tikki had come out of the skylight after Marinette and after facepalming at how the two teens were quickly working themselves into a pile of nerves she decided to squash the anxieties and intercede before they both went up in smoke.

"Sorry Tikki." Marinette gave a sheepish smile to her dark pink and black spotted kwami. She gave a quick nuzzle to her kwami before presenting Tikki to her partner. "Chat Noir, this is Tikki. She's my kwami and besides being the reason I can become Ladybug, she's also my very dear friend."

"Awwww. Marinette..." Tikki practically beamed with the pride. After Tikki flashed Marinette an appreciative smile, she flew in front of Chat to extend an arm out to him.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you Tikki." Chat Noir gently took Tikki's offered arm between his thumb and forefinger in an improvised handshake. Chat Noir's eyes were warm toward the little kwami as he turned his attention back to Marinette. "At least your kwami's friendly. Plagg is a pain in the neck most of the time." Tikki nodded knowingly beside Chat.

"Well the time I had worked with him, he seemed nice enough. A little over enthusiastic, but nice enough anyway." Marinette remembered how Plagg nearly took out the entire Eiffel tower with one cataclysm and winced inwardly.

"To you! He likes you. He likes to torment me!" They all laughed, and Chat and Marinette looked at each other and realized how futile their worries had been. Marinette being Marinette however, couldn't dispell her anxieties completely though.

"So, are you, I mean...you're okay with me...being Ladybug right?" Marinette pushed a strand of hair behind her ear uncertainly. She refused to look up at Chat, and he noticed her avoidance. 

Chat opened his mouth to say something then looked toward Tikki a little embarrassed. 

Getting the hint the little Kwami nodded and announced, "Why don't I give you two a moment to talk." Chat nodded his thanks and Tikki shot him a little wink of encouragement. As she flew passed Marinette to get to the skylight, she paused and patted Marinette on the shoulder then flew down the opening of the skylight.

Chat took a step toward her wordlessly, his long stride taking him within inches of Marinette. Marinette still refused to look at him, afraid of what she'd see in his eyes. "Marinette?" Chat waited for her to turn but she still wouldn't. Her hands were kneading themselves in front of her. Chat reached out and took her hands in his to stop the nervous gesture and he tilted his head, leaning in slightly to peer around the curtain of bangs that were currently obscuring her from him. "Bugaboo, would you please look at me?" Bluebell eyes shot up to meet Chat's green slitted eyes at being addressed by Chat's term of endearment for her that she'd only ever heard in uniform. Chat smiled gently at her, still holding her hands in his. "Listen to me alright?" Marinette nodded slightly awed still. "I am more than okay with you being Ladybug. Hell, this morning, I was debating the possibility of you being Ladybug...geez why does that seem like a long time ago? Anyway, do you know what I thought to myself after wondering if that could even be a possibility?" Marinette shook her head wordlessly and Chat Smiled down, even hunched a little to be able to get a good look into Marinette's eyes. He wanted her to know how sincere he was, "I thought, that was impossible, because, I of all people couldn't possibly be lucky enough to have someone like you as a friend and a partner."

Marinette let out the breath she had been holding and was filled with such relief and happiness that she hadn't been rejected by her partner. She let out an airy laugh, clasped Chat's hands even tighter in hers and before she knew what she was doing, and because Chat was inches from her face, she was overwhelmed by her emotions and kissed him. Chat's eyes shot open in shock, but before he could even think about kissing Marinette back, her own eyes shot open and she pulled back and took a step back.

"Chat!! Oh my God! I am so sorry!! I just..."

Before Marinette could even finish her sentence Chat had taken Marinette's face in his hands and closed the gap between them, kissing her soundly on the mouth. Marinette was taken by surprise for just a moment before she finally let go. Her hands wrapped around to Chat's back as her mouth moved against his to kiss him back in smooth circular motions. Her lips felt electrified and she felt liquid pulls coming from her abdomen. She didn't realize how much she wanted what had started in the bathroom at the hotel until that moment. She could remember how his breath, his hair, his skin had felt against her own skin and it set off a blaze in her she didn't realize she had been holding at bay. All at once it was like a floodgate had opened and she couldn't do anything to hold back this outpouring of emotion that she'd been holding in for so long. Her hands traveled from his back, to his sides, her fingers running over his muscular abdomen to his chest as she deepened the kiss. She forgot how little their super suits left to the imagination and she was finding it a little hard to remember how to breath. Her heart felt like a hummingbird in her chest.

Chat was elated, his heart swelled so much it felt like his chest wouldn't be able to hold it in. Finally, finally, after years of this unrequited love, she was finally not pushing him away. She wasn't calling him silly, she wasn't pulling away from him. She kissed him! He let his hands move to the back of her neck, down her arms and finally come to rest around her tiny waist, holding her to him. He felt like he could barely breathe, but he didn't dare pull away. His mouth slanted down on hers again and again and then he felt it, she timidly flicked her tongue just gently, questioningly toward his lips. Before he could stop himself he lightly moaned against Marinette's mouth. She had retracted her tongue but only to smile against his mouth at his reaction, but Chat had the taste of her now and couldn't let her go with just the small teasing sample he had gotten. 

Pulling her tightly against him, his whole body felt like it was electrified as he also tentatively as well, gently licked Marinette's bottom lip. Her breath caught and the smile vanished from her mouth but her lips parted and she pressed against Chat for more, inviting him in. Chat gently explored her mouth, wanting to be rough in his enthusiasm but having enough presence of mind to hold back. He gently explored, tasted and conquered while Marinette practically melted into him. Marinette's fingers traveled up his chest, her fingers lingering on his shoulders a moment before finding their way up his neck to his silky soft hair. Chat left her lips only long enough to change their head position before he sank his mouth down on to her again, his hands moving over her back before fisting themselves in the fabric of her shirt. When they finally drew back for air they looked into each other's eyes astonished. Marinette's own big blue owlish eyes wide in amazement. 

"Ummm...wow. Where'd you learn to kiss like that?" She was nearly afraid of the answer but was in awe of his skills.

Chat shrugged trying his best not to be smug, but completely failing and smirking slightly at the praise from his lady. "The internet."

Marinette blinked once taken aback then let out a very unladylike snort of laughter. "You dork! I love you ...kitty..." She kept surprising herself and Chat tonight with her impulsive responses but this took the cake. Her stomach felt like she had the first time she had ever jumped from a building as Ladybug. Exhilarated, yet terrified. They both froze but Chat wasn't about to let this go. This was too important.

"You...you love me?" He hung on, trying not to let his heart hope too much, trying not to read too much into her impulsive, in the moment blurb, as he was sure that's all it was, but he didn't let go of the fabric of her shirt, and his eyes were tender and hopeful nonetheless. 

Marinette stood frozen, her mind going a million miles a minute. She...she loved Chat? But didn't she love Adrien? Did that mean she was over Adrien? Did she really love Chat or was that just her hormones screaming at her? Should she play it off and just tell him she loved him as a friend?

They stood frozen like this a moment, it seemed like an eternity to both of them but in reality, it may have been three seconds. Finally, Marinette looked up into Chat's green slitted eyes and she had her answer. She opened her mouth, found her throat was too dry to produce sound and swallowed and cleared her throat once. Still, her response was no better than a whisper.

"I..I love you Chat Noir." Her realization sparked something in her. How long had she loved him? Her memories of them zoomed through her mind in a flash, from the very beginning when she had clumsily tied them both up on their first day as superheroes, to all the times he'd shoved her out of harm's way, to the times when Chat had sacrificed himself for her, again and again. Moonlit patrols, his candlelit rooftop surprise for her, running together over the rooftops of Paris, sitting together on the Eiffel tower, watching the lights play across his face sitting by the Seine, she knew her answer. "I think...I think I always have. I was just too wrapped up in a delusion to see it."

Chat felt like his heart burst. He was stunned for just a moment but when realization set in, he couldn't contain himself any longer. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!" He yelled out to the sky, as he stepped back and did a standing backflip into a backflip twist which landed him onto Marinette's balcony railing. "SHE LOOOOVES MEEEE!!!" He yelled out to the Parisian sky throwing his hands up into the air in triumph.

"CHAT! Are you crazy?? You're going to get yourself killed, get down from there!" Marinette said but laughed at him anyway. "Get over here before people notice you, you crazy cat!!"

"They can notice all they want!" Chat said swinging his arms out in pure elation, grinning from ear to ear. "I'll tell the WORLD! She loves me! SHE LOVES ME! SHEEEE LOOOOVES MEEE!!" Chat beat his chest like Tarzan on the last yell he gave making Marinette crack up in laughter as she grabbed his hand and pulled him off the balcony railing. 

"Shutup Chat! I didn't close my skylight goofy! My parents will hear you." Marinette looked toward her skylight and then back up to Chat, whose arm she was holding, partially to have the reassurance of having him near her, partially to keep him from any more theatrics. 

"You seriously don't know how happy you've made me." Chat said his eyes falling on Marinette's face his free hand cupping her cheek. "It's like I've been in a prison of nothing but loneliness and solitude, and suddenly you're there with the key opening the door to save me." 

"Chat..." Marinette said touched and blushing profusely.

"I mean it. I love you Marinette! Ladybug, Princess, Bugaboo, all of you!" He had slipped his arm away from Marinette's to hold both sides of her face and looked down at her, and into her eyes again. "I love every part of you, every part of who you are. You're incredibly smart, caring, funny, you're a born leader in and out of uniform, beautiful though that's an added bonus," Chat pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and Marinette found it hard to focus on anything else, "you're like sunshine, all warmth, and love and light." He tilted her head down and kissed her forehead. 

Marinette was filled with a warmth throughout her whole body that wasn't hormones, that wasn't anything to do with the mild Parisian night, and that had everything to do with the man that was standing in front of her. That's when it hit her. She didn't want to think about it and ruin the moment, but there was no way around it. She looked back up at Chat and asked him the question that had settled like a stone in her heart within the time it had taken to think about it. 

"How is this going to work?"

"What do you mean Princess?" Chat let go of her face and held her hands starting to feel a cloud settling over them as well.

"I mean, how are we going to work?" Marinette looked down at her feet then back up at Chat, reading the worry on his face and cursing her practical side. Why couldn't her mind have let her enjoy the moment just a few seconds longer? "You may know who I am, but I still don't know who you are. I- I only know you as you are before me right now, as Chat. " Marinette half panicked, pulling one of her hands free and waving and holding it up like she was trying to dismiss what she said. "That's not to say that's not a lot, we've known each other for years, it's just that... I don't know all of you, as you know me now."

Chat opened his mouth to tell her that was easily fixed when his best friend, doubt, settled in. He clamped his mouth shut and his ears flattened against his head as he recalled his and Marinette's relationship as civilians. The awkward tension between them even though they were the best of friends. How she seemed intimidated by him to the point of stuttering at times. He found it endearing but wondered if it was a sign that Marinette was uncomfortable around him. "Uuuuuuhhh...." Was his eloquent response before he shook his head and cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head.

Marinette looked at him askance a moment wondering what the hesitation was about. "What?"

Chat looked at her when a plan started brewing in the back of his mind. "I...I want you to find me."

"What? What do you mean? You're standing right in front of me." Marinette motioned toward him with her free hand. 

"Just hear me out, ok?" Chat motioned Marinette over to her lounge chair, sat down himself then pulled her down so that she could lean back into him. He had one leg propped up and she sat down and leaned sideways so that she could snuggle into his chest.

Marinette was amazed to find out how natural it all felt. How comfortable and right. She smiled to herself and then dug an elbow into Chat's ribs playfully. "Ok, kitty. Spill it."

Chat chuckled under his breath as Marinette's slightly bossier Ladybug mannerisms were showing. Still amazed at his luck he smiled as he twirled the end of one of her pigtails in a clawed hand, he couldn't wait to be able to actually touch her hair and skin with his bare hands. He caught where his mind was going though, and snapped his focus back to the conversation at hand. 

"So, and don't laugh at me ok?" Chat peered around the top of Marinette's head to see her face to see a smirk there already because of the way he was stalling. "Seriously M'lady, I have feelings too you know." Chat said with a pout on his lips.

Marinette giggled lightly at his mock theatrics and then sighed. "Ok Chat, I promise I won't laugh," Marinette said, crossing her index finger over her heart in an X shape. 

"I'm..." Chat stopped took a breath and then tried again. "I'm actually, kind of worried that you won't like me anymore if you found out who I am."

"Kitty that's ridiculous..."Marinette started but Chat laid a finger to rest on her mouth to keep her from continuing.

"Is it? How did you feel when you were coming up here to meet me today, not knowing how I would react to who you are?"

Marinette sat up to give a rebuttal but then closed her mouth into a pout and then slumped back into Chat Noir, knowing full well she nearly lost her mind. "Duly Noted." She said and Chat nuzzled her for her cute pout until she was giggling again. 

"We need to set terms though, you can't just drag this out forever," Marinette said crossing her arms in front of her, feeling a little rebellious. "It's not fair that you know who I am but I'm not allowed to know who you are."

Chat tapped a claw to his chin, his tail had long found its way around Marinette's waist where it was wrapped gently, the metal tip of it rising and falling gently as Chat thought. Marinette had startled a moment, then seeing what was tapping her gently on the hip smiled to herself and gave a small soundless laugh. 

"I've got it!" He announced before blushing at finding out what his tail had unconsciously done of its own accord. He, however, saw fit to leave it where it was since Marinette didn't seem to mind. "There's a fundraiser at the school in a couple of weeks. A masquerade ball, what if..."

"Wait, wait, wait." Marinette sat up abruptly and turned to Chat Noir. "You go to the same school as me?"

"Sure do!" Chat said with a cheeky grin at having the upper hand. He actually couldn't wait until school on Monday. He didn't know how he was going to keep from giving himself away to Marinette for those two weeks, but it would be worth it. He wanted to help Marinette fall in love with both sides of him as much as he possibly could before then, to help her find him so the transition would be easier when she found out. Also being an avid movie and anime watcher and manga reader, he knew dances and balls were purrrrfect events for romantic endeavors. Especially a masquerade! That would be the perfect time to reveal himself, if he could just survive the wait.

"But who? How? Are you in the same grade as I am? Are you in any of my classes? What..." Chat chuckled and laid a finger to Marinette's lips again, his eyes hooded and dreamy for a second as all of his plans had him anticipating more stolen moments like this without reservations. 

"All in due time princess. All in due time." He smiled dreamily at her, even as she gave him an annoyed frown.

"You're actually enjoying this aren't you?" Marinette practically spat at Chat who was unaffected by her rising temper. He reached up and trailed a hand down her cheek with the back of a clawed hand.

"Would you deny me this relatively small request, M'lady? All I want is to make the transition between anonymous friends, to not so anonymous...umm..." His hand faltered in its path and he brought it up to cover his mouth as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "well we don't have to have an official label or anything but..." at this point he looked up at Marinette basically pleading for some kind of help to save him from himself.

Marinette blinked a few times and blushed as she looked down, fiddling with her hands subconsciously. "I don't know. All of this is happening really quickly." Her heart was beating quickly again and she wasn't sure why she should be nervous, but she was anyway. It felt as if she were on the verge of something important, something life-changing, but she tried to dismiss the butterflies that were suddenly in her stomach. "What do you think Chat?" She asked looking up at him. "What would you like for us to be?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that question." Chat said lowering his eyes from Marinette's and blushing profusely.

Marinette saw the blush and automatically thought the worse but couldn't help but blush and give a nervous laugh herself "Kitty!" She wasn't sure if she was shocked, appalled or actually considering the implications.

"No, nothing like that! I mean, yeah, that would be great too, that would be..." Chat got a slightly glazed over look as he remembered the state in which he saw Marinette earlier that day, he found himself giving her a quick look up and down before shaking his head to clear it and putting his hands out as if in defense in front of him, "but I wasn't going there with any of this I swear on my honor, M'lady!" Chat Noir panicked and looked slightly terrified, which Marinette couldn't help but think was absolutely adorable, even as she was trying to control her own blush.

"So what did you mean then?" Marinette asked taking one of Chat's hands in hers to comfort him, but averting her eyes from Chat for the moment. She thought she saw something dark pink whizz into her room out of the corner of her eye as she was turning but decided not to dwell too much on the potential eavesdropping kwami.

"I just meant, that if there were nothing in the way of us just taking off," Chat got that dreamy look in his eye again as he took Marinette's offered hand in both of his "I'd whisk you away to marry you. We'd have two...no three kids, and a hamster!" Chat sighed and then looked to the side, shamefacedly. "Guess that's a little weird, huh"

Marinette was stunned a moment. She remembered this, she's almost sure she had the same fantasy before, not about Chat Noir, but now that she thought more on it..." I- I don't think it's weird." Marinette said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly with her free hand. "I happen to love hamsters."

"Yeah?" Chat Noir perked up. He was so relieved that she hadn't totally rebuffed him, or thought him ridiculous. "Y-yeah! Me too! Hamsters are great."

"Yeah! They're super cute."

"Yeah, you are. I mean they are! Not to say you're not cute, you're freaking adorable! Just that..." Chat Noir was doing his best not to have a mental breakdown trying to find the right words. 

Marinette gave a little sideways smile. Finally, she wasn't the one tripping over her words in front of someone she loved. It was nice to be on the other side for once. She grabbed Chat's bell on his uniform and promptly pulled Chat in for a quick kiss leaning in toward him as she did so. Though it didn't last as long as the previous kiss, Marinette made sure to pack a punch this time; her passion and the little tricks she had picked up from Chat from their first kiss was enough to practically melt Chat into a little leather kitty puddle. Chat was blissfully aware of Marinette's ability to learn quickly as he wrapped his arms around her as much for (literal) support as to offer encouragement. 

Finally, Marinette broke off first. Very proud of herself she smiled wickedly at Chat Noir when she caught sight of the goofy, drunk look he had on his face. "I feel like we may have gotten off track here a little bit," Marinette said, doing her best not to giggle at the poor swaying kitty. "I believe we were talking about the terms and conditions of you telling me who you really are Kitty-cat." 

Chat shook his head to clear it the rest of the way and then frowned slightly. "I thought we were talking about... you know...what we might be now?" 

Marinette thought about this for a moment and came up with a solution. Standing up casually she walked toward the opposite end of the balcony. Chat sat up on the lounge chair, one ear up, the other cocked to the side in curiosity. He felt something was up. Turns out he should have listened to his instincts. 

"Well, there seems to be a discrepancy then." Marinette leaned casually with her back to the balcony railing. "You see, I want to know WHO you are, you want to know WHAT we are, and we still haven't gone on patrol." 

"So what do you propose M'lady?" Chat asked as he got up, slowly, as if Marinette would sense what he was up to and stop him before he could reach her. 

"Interesting choice of words, Chat," Marinette said teasingly and was rewarded by a blush from Chat Noir, "I saaaay, first one to the Eiffel tower on our patrol route gets to set the terms." With that Marinette pushed up and backward off the railing of her balcony crying out "Tikki, Spots on!" as she fell. As she had suspected, the little kwami had been eavesdropping nearby and a pink glowing blur flew out of Marinette's flower box and transformed Marinette mid-air. The warm Paris evening was just dark enough to obscure Marinette's identity in case of any passerby. Chat Noir had run to the edge of the balcony, just as Marinette had started to fall. Witnessing her transform felt almost intimate, something he knew very few if any people would ever witness and it was absolutely beautiful.

"I knew I would love whoever was under that mask." Chat noir said to himself with a grin on his face before taking out his baton and launching himself off of the roof after Ladybug.


	4. When it rains, it pours...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is ready to know the identity of her partner, but with two weeks to wait and friends turning on the pressure and heat, can she make it through even her first day back to school?

"Oh no Tikki! I'm going to be late!!!" Marinette was running down the sidewalk as quickly as her legs would carry her. Of course, her time as Ladybug had helped her condition herself and become much faster over the years, but even with that, she had enough experience being late to class to know she was cutting it super close. 

"Well maybe if someone hadn't stayed up talking with a certain cat until nearly two in the morning, you wouldn't have hit snooze on your alarm so many times." Tikki scolded, but only mockingly. She was very much in approval of Marinette and Chat's budding relationship. Already, just on patrols the past two evenings, they were a lot more positive and more in-sync with each other. That and as Master Fu had told Wayzz (and Wayzz, of course, had told Tikki on one occasion Marinette had visited Master Fu) they were meant for each other.

Marinette directed a sheepish grin to her purse where Tikki typically hid during the times she was out in public. "Sorry about that Tikki. I'll try to be more responsible about... my umm...social life from now on." 

Marinette managed to make it to class with a few minutes to spare. She plopped down in her seat right next to her best friend. Alya tucked a strand of her reddish-brown hair behind her ear as she fiddled with her phone and without a moment’s notice, directed it in Marinette's direction. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, with moments to spare before class what has you so flustered and out of breath."

"Sprinting about six blocks to school will do it every time action reporter Césaire," Marinette said as she collapsed forward onto her desk and turned to her friend, in a mock salute. She had long ago gotten used to Alya's aggressive use of a camera phone for her blogs. Before she could stop herself she let out a somewhat giddy sounding giggle.

"Journalist, Marinette. Journalist. There's a difference." Alya corrected haughtily. Looking at Marinette over her glasses, she noticed something about her friend that didn't seem very usual for the beginning of the school week. She put down her phone decisively with a click on their shared desk before leaning toward Marinette with a conspiratorial glint in her eye.

"You're cheerful...on a Monday... What happened? Spill it. Now. Inquiring minds want to know." 

"Dude, Alya! Let Marinette breathe before you start interrogating her." Nino turned in his seat and winked at Alya. Alya's face softened at her boyfriend for a moment before she noticed something missing. "Where's your bestie? He's going to be late for class."

"Oh, Adrien was talking about some kind of wardrobe issue. Models, man." Nino shook his head in feigned exasperation.

"Hmmm...." Alya had turned back to Marinette who was doing her best to look anywhere but at Alya. "So, what happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing happened." Marinette made herself busy getting out her notebook and pencil from her backpack, trying to hide the blush she could feel blooming on her face as she did so. 

"Reeeally. Nothing happened, huh?" Alya said her eyebrow rose skeptically. She shot Nino a look, who looked at Marinette, smirked and gave a knowing nod.

"Nope," Marinette said, popping her 'p' a little more than was necessary.

"Ok...then stop smiling," Alya said with a smirk, pointing to the very apparent smile that was on Marinette's face. 

"I'm not smiling," Marinette said pursing her lips, with her eyes still very bright and her cheeks tense with the effort of trying not to smile.

"Yes, you are. Now, tell me, who's the guy? Do I know him?" Alya poked at her best friend's stomach which made her lose her concentration and giggle. Nino's eyebrows rose at the implications, but he knew better than to get in the way of Alya's interrogation techniques.

"There's no guy Alya. Geez! Can't a girl just be generally happy?" Marinette was looking around and trying to make sure no one else was picking up on their conversation. She gave Nino a mock dirty look and gestured toward Alya. 

"Are you going to do something about this?" Marinette asked Nino defensively.

"Nah Mari, this is all you girl." Nino tipped his signature red cap at Marinette and chuckled.

"Thanks a lot." 

Alya cleared her throat to bring Marinette's attention back to her. "Aaaanyway, some girls, yes, but I know you like the back of my hand Marinette. Something is definitely up, and I'm not going to rest until I get the scoop." Alya said proceeding to poke her friend in the shoulder and stomach alternately to keep her laughing and off her guard. 

"Staahp!" Marinette squirmed in her chair and couldn't help but giggle. "There's nothing to tell."

"Ooooooh! So there is someone." Alya's eyes brightened and she and Nino exchanged another look. Just then the bell announced that classes were starting. Marinette smiled smugly while Alya pouted her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't think you're safe Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Alya said in a hushed tone as she pointed to the time on her phone. "I'll get it all out of you at lunchtime, mark my words."

"Yeah, sure Aly..." Then Marinette's jaw literally dropped as she saw a familiar face come through the door. Adrien came rushing in giving a sheepish smile to the teacher for being late, who merely gave a smile and rolled her eyes but withheld any remarks since she still hadn't officially started class yet. Adrien hopped up to his seat by Nino. What he was wearing was what had made Marinette's jaw drop. Adrien had on a sleek black leather motorcycle jacket, a black shirt with green claw marks imprinted on it and black skinny jeans with silver studded, black biker boots. 

"Hey, guys! What did I miss?" Adrien asked looking around at his three friends. He left Marinette for last as he looked at her with a gentle smile, trying so hard not to be amused. His outfit had exactly the desired effect he wanted.

“Nice ‘fit bro.” Nino nodded toward Adrien, who usually dressed pretty conservatively model or not.

“Thanks man!” Adrien said scratching the back of his head and chuckling lightly. He was used to attention in his profession but he felt like the highest praise came from his friends.

Alya without even looking at Marinette, lifted a hand to tap closed her friend's still open jaw. Marinette closed it with a blush and busied herself digging around in her backpack again. Alya gave an impish smirk before saying, "Oh nothing, just trying to figure out who Marinette's mystery boy is..."

"Alya!" Marinette hissed under her breath as she blushed redder than a ripe strawberry. 

"You have a boyfriend Marinette?" Adrien asked turning his green eyes toward Marinette and resting his elbow on her desk, propping his chin on his fist.

"I...I...ummm..." Marinette couldn't think straight when Adrien looked at her like that, but she remembered another pair of green eyes, gave a gulp and then straightened and said in a direct tone, "Yes, yes I do." She may still be attracted to Adrien, but Marinette knew where her heart and loyalties lay and that was with Chat.

This time it was Alya's and Nino's jaws that dropped. They both looked at each other then looked back at Marinette. Adrien's smile grew even more and he felt so proud of Marinette for letting him know that she was no longer 'available'. 'That's my girl.' he thought as he continued to look at Marinette who was still blushing but had a very resolute gaze nonetheless. 

Just as Alya was about to launch into a second interrogation, their teacher called out, " All right everyone, eyes forward." Alya managed to glare at Marinette meaningfully, letting her know under no uncertain terms that she was going to have a talk with her after class. Adrien lingered a moment longer, smiling at Marinette who suddenly found her notes from the past week vastly intriguing. "We're going to have a very busy class period today. We've been chosen, with a few other classes, to assist with preparations for the fundraiser for the school's extra-curricular programs in a couple of weeks." So saying, she began to write on the whiteboard to schedule assignments. "This year's theme is Masquerade, and it will be exactly like you would imagine, with dancing, music...."

Marinette's focus deviated as what the teacher was saying triggered a memory from her weekend. She was supposed to be on the lookout for Chat Noir at school. He had been rather cryptic about any type of information besides the fact that they were from the same school. She still felt like he cheated though. She was fairly certain he must have skipped part of their patrol route to get to the Eiffel Tower before her that night, but after everything that had happened that day, and night, she was willing to let Chat have his way. 

In fact, she wouldn't have had it any other way. 

*******

On arriving at the Eiffel Tower, Ladybug swung in to find Chat leaning leisurely against one of the supports near the topmost deck like he'd been there forever. When she walked toward him though, she could tell he was just as winded as she was. His arms and legs were crossed, his eyes lidded halfway as if he were bored or tired, but his lips kept wanting to twitch up into a smile. Even more so at seeing Ladybug absolutely perplexed at seeing him already at the meeting spot.

"You cheated! You had to have! How did you beat me??" Ladybug walked over to Chat placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head skeptically to the side when she was a few paces in front of him. 

"You doubt my honesty M'lady? I'm wounded!" Chat made a stabbing motion to his heart with one fist while the other one swung suspiciously behind his back. Taking the few steps toward Ladybug, he took one of her hands with his free hand and bent to kiss the back of her gloved hand. "I did, however, take a detour..."

"I knew.....it..." Ladybug trailed off as he pulled a rose from where he was hiding it behind his back. On its own, this wouldn't have been too unfamiliar of a gesture, except that the rose he presented to her this time, was a beautiful baby pink. Ladybug looked at the rose and looked up at Chat in astonishment.

"Knowing who you are underneath the mask..." Chat straightened with a glint in his eyes, "gives me a little bit of an unfair advantage." Chat, still holding Ladybug's hand in one hand, trailed the rose down the side of her face with the other as he continued, "One that I'm more than happy to take advantage of if it will make you happy, Princess."

Ladybug's breath caught. She was used to Chat's flirting and advances, but because of everything that had happened today, this felt so much more personal than it ever had; especially since he was proving to her, that not only was he viewing her as Ladybug but as Marinette as well. "H-how did you know I love pink?" she asked, willing her hand not to shake as she delicately took the rose from Chat's outstretched hand.

Chat smiled and tilted his head, one cat ear flopping to the side he was tilting to, "Are you already forgetting that I've been in your room? What do you own that isn't pink?" 

"I happen to have a lot of items that aren't pink thank you very much." Ladybug said pouting and hoping fervently that her mask was covering the majority of the blush she could feel blooming on her cheeks. For good measure, she ducked her head and turned her face to the side with the excuse of smelling her rose, whose scent was as delicate and sweet as it looked. She had nearly forgotten about that disastrous misadventure of having a film crew in her house. She thought she would die of shame when they televised her room which was draped with pictures of Adrien all over the place. Marinette had thought that would have caused a rift between them but she and Adrien had become even better friends after the show had aired. 

Chat brought her out of her nostalgia with a chuckle and she turned and glared good-naturedly at him, "What?" 

He shook his head and grinned from ear to ear. "I just can't believe my luck is all. I would never have imagined this could be so easy." He motioned between them, indicating their current discourse. 

A worry line creased Ladybug's forehead and she winced, "Am I that unapproachable as Ladybug?"

"No! No of course not." Chat's eyes widened and he placed his hand on Ladybug's wrist to keep from crushing the rose, "I only meant...well...like I said before, I was so busy worrying about trying to impress you and trying to put my best foot forward with you, I didn't realize how chill we would actually be together if I just..."

"If you would just be yourself? Like how you were when I was out of uniform." Ladybug finished smiling with understanding and compassion. She could totally relate. Maybe if she wasn't always trying so hard around Adrien before, she could be normal around him too. Not that it was an issue anymore anyway. But it was nice to know where Chat was coming from and to realize he was as much of a dork as she was.

"Exactly. I mean...when I'm Chat Noir, I feel like I'm more like myself than when I am in my civilian form, but I still could have been more open with you." 

"Actually, I feel the same way. Like I feel so much freer with you now, like this, knowing that you know me and still accept me...for me." Marinette looked down at their joined hands and meant every word of what she said. She felt so right here with Chat, at this moment, standing with him like this at one of their favorite meeting spots.

"I told you I would M'lady," Chat said lifting her chin so she could meet his eyes. "I mean it. I knew I would love you. Not because you're Ladybug, but because of what I saw of the person that's under this mask." Chat fingered the edge of Ladybug's mask tenderly and trailed his fingers down her cheek, to her jaw line then let his hand drift lightly down and in back of her neck to cradle it in his palm. "Now, M'lady, I believe we have some unfinished business."

Ladybug was beginning to wonder how tall the Eiffel Tower was exactly. All of a sudden the air felt very thin to her, as she was finding it hard to breathe. "I believe we do Kitty..." Ladybug began closing her eyes and leaning into Chat Noir, as he started to fall under the spell of their newfound intimacy, his eyes shot open and instead, he leaned his forehead against Ladybug's and took a breath himself. 

"Wait, My Lady. There's something I need to do first. I want to do this properly, it's really important to me, ok?" Chat Noir's eyes were pleading and Ladybug was having quite a hard time trying not to panic, but she swallowed and nodded, offering what she hoped was a reassuring smile. When Chat dropped to one knee though, she was fairly certain she was the closest she had ever been to fainting.

"Ummm...Ki-Kitty?..."

"Just wait one second okay? It's not what you think. I'm not going to rush us into anything...big...or that serious just yet." Chat Noir tried to soothe his lady's nerves by rubbing his thumb against the inside of her extended wrist that he was still holding, as she was still holding the rose he'd given her.

"Oh...okay. So..." Ladybug was still a little on edge but she relaxed a little and waited on her partner who was looking a little on edge as well.

Chat Noir gulped and blinked, took a few breaths and a quick look around to make sure they were completely alone before he looked back up into Ladybug's eyes. "Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, though I would like nothing more than to whisk you away and marry you tonight, I wouldn't want to cheat either of us out of an opportunity to have the unique experience of dating each other, or the opportunity, for me at least, to court the love of my life. Sooooo.... I guess what I'm asking you is, if you, my Lady and my Princess would do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

Ladybug stood stunned at Chat's declaration. Granted she basically knew it was coming but not how strongly she would feel in the moment. Her heart was pounding, her stomach fluttered as though it were filled with hundreds of butterflies and she felt like she couldn't quite catch her breath. She had that feeling again, that she had on her balcony, that feeling of something imminent, something life-changing and amazing was happenning. Ladybug was mildly terrified, her brain was a bit foggy, but even so, she knew her answer.

Chat Noir's eyes went wide as Ladybug knelt down with him looked him straight in the eyes with all the love that had been building over their years of partnership, their unconditional trust in each other and her heart shone through her own eyes as she said. "No."

Chat's ears flattened and his eyes went wide in a horrified expression, but before he could say anything, Ladybug held a finger to his lips, smiled gently and then continued. "I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, in all my personas and or expressions of myself, would be more than honored for us to have each other as boyfriend and girlfriend, on equal ground, with mutual respect....Then maybe down the line, if you haven't decided this wasn't all a horrible mistake, we can possibly think of more." Marinette gently took her finger from Chat's mouth which was growing by the second into a huge grin, and cupped his cheek with her hand. "How does that sound?"

Chat in a smooth, fluid motion stood and scooped up Ladybug twirling her around throwing her into the air which made her laugh and squeak in a way more characteristic to Marinette than her superhero persona, and catching her in a bridal carry. "Sounds paws-itively purrrrrfect Purrrincess." 

Ladybug shook her head still laughing, "Heaven help me with your ridiculous puns Chat."

"Well get used to them." Chat nuzzled the side of Ladybug's face with his nose, "because you will have them, and me, for as long as you want me."

"I guess I'm in for a long life of torcher and stupid cat puns then." Marinette giggled and booped Chat on the nose with her rose.

Chat pulled his head back just far enough to get a good look into Ladybug's eyes. With the lights of Paris and the Eiffel tower casting a warm glow on his hair and skin, with a shimmer in his eyes Chat declared quietly, "I love you Marinette."

******

"Marinette? Marinette?!"

Alya nudged her friend, none too gently, in the ribs to get her to come out of her musings. Their teacher had been calling her name and her friend was completely oblivious, with a far-off gaze out the nearest window. Marinette snapped to immediately, nearly falling out of her chair and flailing a moment to get her balance before answering in a slightly stressed voice. "Yes, M'am! Sorry, M'am. "

The teacher chuckled gently, "It's ok Marinette, I was only asking if we could count on a contribution from your parent's bakery for the fundraiser in a couple of weeks?" 

"I'll double check with them, but I'm sure they would be more than happy to help out," Marinette said cheerfully. 

"Wonderful! Another project I thought our class could contribute to would be the masks for the ball. I'm sure people would bring their own masks to match their outfits, but it wouldn't hurt to sell some masks at the door for those who forget or couldn't find a mask in time." 

"Ma'am, my father's company would probably be more than happy to donate the supplies, but I know many designers are a bit busy with a fashion show that is scheduled for next month in Milan." Adrien said before shrugging and continuing, "I figured if some of our more creative classmates wanted to let me know if they'd like to take on the challenge, I can get them some materials to make the masks?"

"That would be amazing Adrien! Good idea and that would be a great way to get some of your classmates to participate as well." The teacher looked from Adrien to the class in general. "So how about it? Who's up to a little design challenge?"

"I-I wouldn't mind contributing a few masks." A red-headed boy chirped up from near the back of the class, his hair falling over one eye slightly as he raised his hand in enthusiasm.

"Nathaniel, thank you for being so eager to help. Is there anyone else who would like to contribute to this particular project?"

Marinette pursed her lips then raised her hand as well, "I would like to design a few masks myself if that's okay."

"Of course Marinette, I half expected you to volunteer. That would be perfect practice for a student into fashion design." The teacher nodded approvingly and wrote the names of each of the students who had spoken up on the whiteboard along with the designated assignments.

Not to be outdone by Marinette, Chloe put up a perfectly manicured hand. When the teacher still hadn't turned around after a few moments Chloe grew impatient, flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and stood up. "Ms. Marseille, my daddy, who as we all know is the Mayor of Paris and who owns Le Grand Paris Hotel, would be more than happy to host the masquerade ball at our hotel. Which you can agree, is much better than having it in the drabby school multipurpose room." 

Marinette rolled her eyes, as did about half of the class, but she did have a point.

"That's a fantastic suggestion Chloe." Ms. Marseille turned away from the whiteboard addressing her student directly, “I will ask Principal Damocles if that is a viable option, and we'll give your father a call today."

Chloe sat down again haughtily, directing a sneer in Marinette's direction. Marinette simply made a show of yawning, which drew a scowl from the blonde haired girl. Alya giggled by Marinette's side, proud of how sassy her friend was being.

"Go on Juleka, ask her." Marinette heard in a loud whisper back and to the right of where she was sitting. Marinette turned to see what the matter was, as she recognized the speaker's voice as belonging to her friend Rose. She saw Juleka with her chin tucked down shyly, her hand halfway raised in front of her. Juleka set her mouth in a determined line, took a breath and extended her hand the rest of the way, tossing her black and purple hair with a flip of her head as she did so. 

"Yes, Juleka," Ms. Marseille smiled at the girl, "Did you have something to contribute to the preparations?"

Juleka mumbled something nearly unintelligible, but what could be heard was the words "we have" and "band".

"That sounds like a great idea Juleka! We could do with some live music. We could have you and your band play a few sets in between some DJ'ed music so that you and your friends will be able to enjoy the masquerade as well."

"Speaking of DJ's..." Nino said as he raised his hand, waiting for the teacher's permission to continue, which she granted with a nod and a smile. "I could lend a hand with the beats, I have my own setup and everything." 

"Then it's settled." Ms. Marseille beamed, "Those who weren't directly assigned something to help with, may assist their fellow classmates with their preparations. Now let's open our textbooks up to where we left off on page four hundred and eighty-three...."

Without much more ado, the class continued as usual. Marinette was very conscious of a few things. Adrien, being one of those things in front of her. His outfit had already put her on a tight guard of her own emotions, but every once in a while, he would stretch, or turn to look for something in his backpack, and she could almost swear he was deliberately trying to catch her eye. This would have thrilled her before, now though, it was starting to feel like more of a cause for panic. Why would he start paying more attention to her now? 

The other thing she was conscious of, was Alya, nearly doing the same as Adrien and trying to get her to make eye contact. Though Marinette knew that any answers she gave Alya would be risky. How was she supposed to explain her situation, without explaining her situation? That is to say, how was she supposed to fess up to being in a relationship with a superhero? She couldn't tell anyone who he was in civilian form, she didn't know that information herself. This whole not knowing who Chat really is, was becoming extremely frustrating and she had not one, but two weeks to wait and be able to find out herself! Not that she planned to wait, she was going to do everything within her power to discover his identity before then, but until she did, she was going to be in a constant state of torture from all her friends and her own frazzled nerves.

The third thing she was very much conscious of, was time. She had been watching the clock nearly all of the class period. Her goal: Being out that classroom door before anyone could ask her any further questions. She knew she'd have to face her friends' and their curiosity sooner rather than later, but as it was, she had no idea what to tell them that could possibly satiate their curiosity. For now, her only plan of action that she could see was to escape as soon as possible.

No sooner than the bell had wrung, Marinette was bolting out of the classroom. She could hear the teacher behind her reminding everyone on their way out of their assignments for the charity masquerade. She breathed with a sigh of relief and, making sure first that she had a good strong lead on anyone coming out of her previous class, finally slowed her pace. 

It was when she was on her way back from retrieving her textbook for her next class, that she heard a conversation that caught her attention. Mainly because the boys, who to Marinette looked to be in Seconde, had mentioned her partner rather loudly. 

"Chat Noir? That wuss puss?? All he's good for is getting in Ladybug's way and getting them into trouble."

Marinette froze in her tracks. She looked toward the group of four boys standing around. By all accounts a bunch of punks in expensive clothes that had been made to look ripped and distressed like they were trying to look tough. She tried to calm herself with a breath and walk on, just chalking it up to them being young idiots until she heard the rest of the conversation.

"Yeah! And what about that stupid costume? What the hell is that stupid bell for? I thought he was supposed to be a superhero, not a stripper."

"Superhero? Hah! I could probably bench press him and ladybug put together, make me a superhero!"

"Yeah, that idiot is completely useless, a complete waste of space."

By this point, Marinette was standing in front of the four boys, hands fisted, body so tense she was shaking and her eyes nearly spitting out blue fire. 

"HOW DARE YOU!!!" 

All four of the boys jumped from the sheer volume and intensity of Marinette's delivery before turning and finding the small package that had managed to deliver such a loud roar. In fact, nearly everyone in the quad area that Marinette had been passing through had stopped and turned astonished to see where all the ruckus was coming from.

Fearless and fuming, Marinette approached the boys who at seeing the petite figure coming at them, tried to reestablish at least some of their bravado, even though three of the four youths backed up noticeably anyway.

"How dare you even speak his name in a disrespectful tone! Chat Noir has done nothing but sacrifice himself, again, and again, and again for Paris! Your loved ones, your friends, your families are safe because of him! You think Ladybug would be able to deal with all the craziness Hawk Moth throws her way without him?? Well if you do your WRONG! Dead wrong! We all owe our lives to his selflessness and chivalry and bravery! So you can stick your comments where the sun doesn't shine!"

"Let me guess..." The boy who hadn't retreated, though it took some effort with all the venom and fury in Marinette's demeanor and voice, piped up, "You must be one of those hardcore Chat Noir fangirls who have pictures of him plastered on your walls. You know, he will never find out you stuck up for him. You're not going to get brownie points with him, and he won't magically appear and ask to date you, so why don't you save your breath little girl?"

"Little GIRL! I'll show you little you slimy, no good son of a....!" Marinette had been walking toward the boy who spoke her fists slowly and unconsciously bunching up in front of her threateningly when she felt an arm around her waist gently but swiftly lifting her off the floor and pulling her backward.

"Easy Marinette!" Adrien said quietly but insistently as he held her against the black leather covering his chest. He took his arm from around her waist and put a hand on either of her upper arms rubbing them gently and comfortingly as he did so. He leaned in until the blonde hair of his bangs, melded with the blue-black bangs at Marinette's temple, his lips nearly touching her ear as he spoke softly to her. "They aren't worth getting yourself into trouble for. They're just a bunch of young idiots trying to stoke each others' egos."

Marinette immediately calmed as her focus shifted from one type of passion to another, and immediately felt guilty for it but managed to calm down and was only slightly flushed when she nodded and said in a more subdued tone. "You're right, they aren't worth the trouble at all." The last part of her sentence was directed at the boys, the leader of which had stepped back a moment before at Marinette's approach. 

Marinette allowed Adrien to steer her away from the scene and she could hear the boys carrying on their conversation a little more quietly behind them. "Feisty, little thing, huh?" The first boy said in a semi-hushed tone.

"Yeah, kind of reminds me a little of how Ladybug looks..." The second boy said throwing a glance askance at Marinette.

"You're crazy, Ladybug is taller than that!"

"Mmmm....and that body suit of hers..."

"Makes you wonder how easy it would be to take off."

The boy who clearly thought he was the better looking of the group smirked, "Let me get a hold of her, and I'd be able to tell you guys first han..."

Fortunately or unfortunately, the youth found himself unable to speak as he was checked into a nearby wall and choked off by a black, leather-clad arm on his throat under his chin. Green, nearly glowing eyes stared straight into his as the boy looked up. In a nearly stoic voice, the tall blonde resembled more an avenging angel than the teen model he was, "If you ever, EVER, insinuate something like that about M..uh..about Ladybug again..."

"Adrien..." Looking back as he felt a gentle tug on his free hand, he could read the concern on Marinette's face, not for the boy, but for him. Marinette nearly hadn't had any warning on Adrien's intentions at all. If she wasn't hyper-aware of the moment Adrien had released her arms, she might not have caught up to him in time. He had moved so quickly it was almost superhuman. "Remember what you just told me..."

"You're right." He said to Marinette before turning back to the nearly terrified teen and astonished friends, releasing the offending youth abruptly before straightening his own jacket with an abrupt and snapping tug. "He's not worth the trouble."

Marinette inserted an arm through Adrien's and with her free hand patted his forearm, much in the same comforting manner Adrien had just used on her. With a gentle pull, she began to lead Adrien away toward their next class. As they got further away from the scene Marinette slowed and Adrien immediately felt the shift, as fuming and preoccupied as he still was. 

"Are you ok?" Marinette asked big blue eyes narrowed slightly with worry as she looked up at her friend. "I rarely ever see you lose your temper like that, like...ever."

"Yeah...sorry. I just...it burns me up that people would talk about...yaa....ah...about Ladybug like that. Like she's just an object or a piece of ...anyway, it was disrespectful." Adrien had turned his head away slightly. He wanted to comfort Marinette in case the last things the guys had said, unknowingly about the girl that was in front of them, had upset her but didn't want to talk about it with so many people around who might try to put things together.

"There's always going to be jerks like that, there's nothing we can do about that." Marinette laughed sheepishly, "I shouldn't have lost my cool like that either, I shouldn't have let it bug me, but I didn't want their opinions poisoning what other people think of Chat Noir." She fiddled with her fingers awkwardly as she blushed and looked down.

"You really think highly of him...don't you?" Adrien asked quietly, his eyes warm and his heart thundering in his chest, that his princess would defend him in, and out of uniform.

"Well yeah... I mean," Marinette tucked a stray strand behind her ear nervously, "I mean well, why wouldn't he...er we...um me." Marinette was having a hard time focusing with Adrien looking at her in that way, more flustering is that he seemed to be able to pick up her affection in regards to Chat and she had to scramble her mind a bit for a proper response. "What I mean to say is, any sane,non-idiotic person can see how important Chat Noir is to Paris and to Ladybug and to their partnership." 

"You really think so?" Adrien asked smiling and wondering if he should bait her so soon after her encounter, "You don't think of him...you know...like a sidekick to Ladybug?" Marinette shot him a stern look, and he raised his hands up in surrender and chuckling before taking Marinette's arm in his again. "I'm just asking because of what I hear from others about their opinion on the matter."

"No." Marinette shook her head fervently, "I don't think he's 'just a sidekick'. If people would pay attention, they'd see how much of what Ladybug does, actually depends on her partner." Marinette gestured with her free hand. Any other time she would have been beside herself to be holding Adrien's arm so casually. Right now, however, it felt comfortable and natural and she was far too distracted trying to set the record straight about Chat to be flustered by the contact. "He sacrificed himself several times for Ladybug, putting himself in harms way more than is safe for him, just because he trusts her so whole-heartedly. He puts others before himself all the time." Marinette was ticking her points off on her fingers while Adrien was trying hard not to blush at all the praise. "When Ladybug is stuck commenting to the press after an akuma attack, you can often see Chat Noir taking care of the victims of the attack or the akumatized victims themselves in the background, or trying to get citizens to safety that can't get out of the way... fast ...enough." Marinette had trailed off as Adrien had stopped, still not releasing her arm but pivoting her in front of him. The look on his face made her heart give an uncomfortable lurch. He was looking at her like he...but he couldn't possibly...why would he start liking her now? Years of being friend-zoned by him, why would Adrien look at her like that now?

"Well I know one thing, if he has a fan like you, that is willing to defend him and praise him so highly, then he's one lucky guy." Adrien gave Marinette a gentle smile. He noticed the strand of hair Marinette had just fixed had come loose again and raised his hand to sweep it slowly behind her ear, not breaking eye contact with her even a moment as he did so.

Marinette's breath caught in her throat at the contact and after a few startled blinks, she glanced away from Adrien's gaze, flushing and nearly began to stutter again. "I-I or um...we should probably get going into class." She turned quickly on her heel but the next thing Adrien said stopped her dead in her tracks. 

"So what time am I dropping by your house tomorrow?"

Marinette spun back around, gripping the door frame she was seconds from walking through for support. Wide-eyed, she asked "I'm sorry? M-m-my h-house? T-t-tomorrow?" 

Adrien nodded and stuck his hands partially in his pant pockets. "Yeah, I was planning to drop by and see what materials you'd like for the masks and maybe help you with your preparations.

"O-oh. Umm..." Marinette was trying to will her brain to think. How was she going to get out of this? What would Chat think? Why would he need to think anything, Adrien was just a friend that was trying to be helpful...right? That's all it was. He was just very kind, sweet, caring and...helpful. 

As she hadn't realized that there were a couple of students trying to get passed her into the classroom, Adrien gently but firmly grabbed the hand that didn't have a death grip on the doorway and pulled her toward him and out of the way. Marinette nearly had to remind herself to let go of the door frame. Adrien smiled patiently and waited for her reply.

"I guess right after school is f-fine." Marinette said looking up at Adrien, she was still a bit dazed as to the turn of events today. 

"Great! I'll make sure to bring my tablet so I can take notes on what you need." With a less than innocent smile he started walking with Marinette, pulling her along by their still joined hands. "We should really be getting to class, we're going to be late. You can sit with me so you won't have to run up to your seat."

Marinette's eyes grew wide with a weird mixture of amazement, concern, and dismay. She needed to find Chat NOW. She wasn't going to be able to make it to two weeks. She wasn't sure how she was going to survive today.

Sitting down slightly dazed next to Adrien as they went in, Marinette went through the motions of preparing for class as Adrien asked her a few questions on what materials he might want her to bring right away tomorrow. As she looked up and saw Alya walking in the class, she saw her friend do a double take, especially at Adrien's proximity to Marinette. Alya cocked an eyebrow in question and Marinette gave a sheepish smile and one-shouldered shrug. Years of wanting Adrien to notice her, then all of a sudden she's no longer available and he lavishes her with attention. Marinette turned smiling and responded to Adrien's questions until the bell rang. 

Marinette had dropped her pencil when the teacher asked them to take down some notes, she was about to get up from the desk and retrieve it from where it had rolled to the next row down, when she felt a gentle pressure on her wrist, stopping her. She turned and Adrien was smiling, holding out one of his own pencils to take. Marinette smiled and nodded her gratitude toward him, she reached out to take the pencil, but the way he was holding it, there was no way their hands wouldn't touch. She looked up into his eyes just as their hands connected, she wanted to convey a kind of sheepish apology to him with her expression but was floored by the depth and sincerity with which he was already looking at her. It had reminded her of the time he had lent her his umbrella the first day they met, and she knew she was in trouble.

Marinette smiled and stifled a sigh as a thought occurred to her, 'I guess when it rains, it pours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay. The rest of the fic is already planned out so chapters should come out a little more frequently. Happy Holidays everyone!


	5. Under the Mask...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mixed feelings, masks, and emotions flying everywhere. Is Marinette ready for a visit from her "just a friend"?

Marinette ran around the corner of the school, made sure no one had followed her and then doubled over huffing with her hands on her knees. 

From her hiding spot in Marinette's purse, Tikki popped her head out, her little arms hanging out on either side of the half of a clasp in front of her. A corner of her mouth pulled down in a disapproving frown as she looked up at Marinette. "You're going to have to figure out something to tell them Marinette. You can't keep dodging all your friends forever."

"It's not forever, just until I find out Chat Noir's identity for myself. Or until the masquerade ball." Marinette closed her eyes and crossed her arms haughtily, "Not that I have any doubt that I'll have that Cat figured out in no time at all." 

Tikki shook her head and sighed, slightly amused by Marinette's confidence in herself. "Your pride is going to get you into trouble Marinette."

"We'll see." Marinette winked at Tikki and her smile grew sly, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve to try and flush out my Kitty. You wait and see."

Tikki giggled, "Oh dear, this is going to be an interesting couple of weeks." 

"You bet your spots it will be!" Marinette did finger guns toward Tikki as the kwami merely rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Arent' you forgetting something Marinette?" Tikki asked with a little quirk in her smile.

"No...wait...am I?" The girl tapped a finger against her mouth pensively before looking at her kwami in confusion and shrugging.

"Adrien. He's supposed to show up at your house today, like...right now in..."

Before Tikki could finish her sentence, Marinette nearly became a blur on the sidewalk as she sprinted toward her house.

As she was running, her arms and legs pumping as fast as they could go in her civilian form, she started wondering if maybe, by some great, lucky chance, that Adrien may have forgotten what he'd told her the previous day. After all, he hadn't said anything at school today.

(Of course, Marinette had been trying to avoid talking to everyone including Adrien at school today and practically became a ninja around lunch time to avoid awkward questions, but that was no excuse.)

"Watch, Tikki. " Marinette said daring to dart a quick glance down to her purse while running, "He probably just forgot about the whole...Oof!!" Just as the dark-haired girl had rushed around the corner toward her bakery she ran into a brick wall. 

Or at least it felt like a brick wall. A very well dressed brick wall, in a dark suit and tie. She looked up into the gorilla-like face of Adrien's bodyguard from her position on the sidewalk which is where she had rebounded to when she bounced off of the very solidly planted man. 

The bodyguard grimaced with the slight annoyance and reached out a massive hand toward Marinette. The girl's bluebell eyes widened in astonishment at the gesture and she took his hand, still a bit dazed by the impact, as the man with barely a flick of the wrist helped the girl up. 

"Ummm...Sorry, and, and thank you." Marinette managed to get out a bit awkwardly but smiled nonetheless. She was never sure how to act around Adrien's bodyguard. On the one hand, he was a mountain of a man and quite intimidating, on the other, he seemed to genuinely care about Adrien, and for that, she couldn't help but relate and feel a kind of quiet camaraderie. 

The bodyguard didn't quite smile, but his eyes softened and he gave a small if short nod. 

"Marinette!"

The girl nearly jumped out of her pink and black ballet flats. She whirled toward the entrance of the bakery and Adrien's bodyguard, anticipating either another collision or at the very least another fall from the excitable girl in front of him, reached out instinctively to steady Marinette after her near pirouette just inches away from him. Marinette threw him a sheepish smile over her shoulder before turning back to look into the vividly green eyes of...her...very good friend. That's what she was trying her best to tell herself anyway with Adrien so close and smiling so warmly at her like...like he'd missed her. 

"Hey! I didn't get to talk to you much today between classes. I brought over the materials like I said I would." At his friend's bewildered expression, Adrien's brows knitted in concern, "You didn't forget did you?"

"ME? What? Pfffft! No! No, I didn't forget, I just didn't think you meant, like right, right after school," Marinette's arms and hands were nearly uncontrollable as she was trying to make herself clear. "I just figured you'd have to go home and get them first. Sorry if I kept you waiting."

"It was no problem. Your parents are the best! They were having me try this lemon custard cake they were planning on selling in the bakery. It's amazing!" It was a testament to Adrien's distracting good looks in the black leather jacket he had taken to wearing lately, that Marinette didn't realize he was holding nearly half a cake on a plate in one hand. He smiled at his bodyguard and held out the cake toward him, "I thought you might like to have some." 

The bodyguard did give a rare smile just then. Grunting and nodding his thanks he took the offered plate out of Adrien's hands and turned to sit in the car and enjoy it. 

Marinette's heart melted. Looking at Adrien's golden hair and emerald eyes she decided he was even more beautiful on the inside than he was on the outside. Almost as soon as the thought came to her mind, she blushed and turned away. Feeling slightly disloyal she cleared her throat, wishing she could do the same with her mind before saying. "Why don't we have a look at what you brought?" Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear uncomfortably, she went into the bakery to see her parents nearly beaming at Marinette and Adrien's entrance together.

"You should have told us you were having a friend over Marinette." Her mother said cheerfully.

"Sorry, it must have slipped my mind." Marinette blushed, she really should have said something, but she was so overwhelmed with thoughts the past few days.

"If it's too much trouble, I can come back another time," Adrien said concerned that he was intruding on the family.

"Absolutely not! You're always welcome here Adrien." Tom's warm and booming voice chimed in. He swooped each teen into a one-armed hug. "Marinette talks about you all the time. Any friend of our little girl's is a friend of ours." 

"Papa!" Marinette whined and blushed even brighter, completely mortified. 

Adrien laughed and flushed at the attention and warmth of Marinette's family. "Thank you! That's very kind of you."

"Not at all," Sabine said gently, she could tell that poor boy was starved for affection, just at how much enthusiasm was in his eyes at being included amongst Marinette's friends. "In fact, if it's alright with your father, we'd love if you could stay for dinner. I'm making a nice hearty coq au vin with a tarte Tatin for dessert, what do you say?" She finished with a smile that would rival the sun in warmth. 

"That sounds amazing!" Adrien said as he whipped out his cell phone, "I'll call and ask him right now." He turned away slightly to be able to speak with his father. 

Marinette wasn't sure how she was going to deal with Adrien's extended visit if this kept up. She gulped and looked around as if for help, as she did, she noticed Adrien's bodyguard standing outside awkwardly with an empty plate where half a lemon custard cake used to be. Marinette smiled affectionately at the awkward figure and went to the door, holding it open as she motioned him in. The bodyguard took up most of the doorway as he stepped in tentatively, offering Marinette the empty plate. 

Just getting off of the phone with his father, Adrien turned toward his bodyguard/driver to let him know the change of plans. "I'll be staying here at the Dupain-Cheng's for dinner. I called father and he said I could as long as I make up my piano practice later tonight. I'll call as soon as I'm ready to be picked up." 

His bodyguard nodded and was turning to leave, "Wait!" Marinette said and rushed behind the counter of the bakery, after depositing the cake plate on the counter, she grabbed a rather large bag and a pair of tongs. In the bag, she deposited a few rather large pieces of French bread, some croissants, and about a dozen macarons. 

"For the household for dinner and dessert," Marinette said with a smile as she held out the bag smiling up at the giant of a man. His face lit up as he reached out to take the bag and nodded with gratitude. 

As Marinette handed him the bag she leaned in and whispered, "Do me a favor and save Adrien a couple croissants for breakfast for me." The bodyguard began to turn but managed the quickest of winks before he went out the door.

Adrien was trying to keep his heart from leaping out of his chest. Besides being amazed at the way she talked to his stoic, but otherwise amiable bodyguard and her knowledge of his favorite treats (Marinette was unfortunately horrible at whispering), he loved how even in the smallest ways, she considered others and went out of her way to do the little things that made anyone who knew her happy. Tom and Sabine gave each other knowing glances as they saw the way the boy was watching their daughter as the scene played out. As Marinette turned back toward them Sabine began pushing Tom toward the kitchen and out of the way of her daughter and Adrien. 

"Well I must check on the coq au vin, and we have a lot to do if we want to have dinner on the table in a respectable amount of time, so we'll leave you two to get on with your project for school." Tom was floundering to be able to say something to Marinette and Adrien, however, Sabine merely shoved him toward the kitchen as casually as she could, with a very determined, "Come on dear, let's get moving."

"Let us know if you two need anything!" Tom threw over his shoulder. As a very determined Sabine smiled at the teens before unceremoniously shoving her husband through the doorway.

Marinette couldn't help but feel abandoned by her parents. If this had even been last week, she would have been thrilled with the opportunity to be alone with Adrien, right now, however, her stomach was twisting into a tense knot and she gave a slight gulp before Adrien turned his attention over to her. 

"Sooo...." Marinette started out awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her feet and fiddling with her hands, before latching onto the lifeline of fashion and work, "Why don't we have a look at what you brought for the masks?" 

"Sure. Your mom had me put the materials up in the living room until you could get here to help me take everything up to your room." Feeling pretty comfortable, Adrien led the way back up to the living room where he had several bags and boxes on the couch. 

"Wow!" Marinette said as she fingered the beautiful material and peeked through some of the bags. "Your father was really generous." 

Adrien Shrugged and smiled, "I told him who it was for, he insisted on picking some materials out himself and said you only have to contact Natalie and we could provide you with anything else you need." Adrien stacked a couple of boxes on top of each other and hoisted them off the couch while he spoke. "He only asked that you send along some images of whatever you came up with, and asked if he might use a few of your designs with your permission if he found anything in particular he liked. He'd give you full credit of course."

Marinette was flabbergasted, "I, umm, yes of course! It would be an honor if he found any of my designs suitable for his line." Marinette flushed lightly at the compliment. 

Adrien smiled as Marinette gathered up what she could of the bags to take up to her room. "Well ever since your success at that fashion show a few years back, he'd been hoping there would be other opportunities to collaborate with you." He chuckled, "To tell the truth, I partially think he'd love to rub in Audrey Bourgeious' face that he was able to get you to work with him when she's the one that offered for you to go to New York with her." 

"Yeah, it was a great opportunity but I...have responsibilities here and besides all the people I love and care about are here." Marinette smiled and turned away to walk up the stairs to her room. 

Adrien realized for the first time why Marinette actually stayed. Now that he had everything in context, her hesitation told him everything he needed to know about why Marinette turned down the opportunity of a lifetime. Because, she was Ladybug, because Hawk Moth was here in Paris, and she would not leave Paris to deal with Hawk Moth while she went to follow her dream. She wouldn't leave him, or rather Chat Noir, to deal with Hawk Moth on his own. He realized then, just how much she sacrificed, not only for him but for her loved ones and in fact the entire city. 

As he followed her up the stairs, boxes in tow, Adrien wanted nothing more than to toss aside his boxes and scoop Marinette into a hug but, very conscious that he was Adrien, and already seeing some of that tell-tale awkwardness that Marinette had around him, he sighed quietly to himself, and couldn't wait until Marinette was ready to know who her Chat Noir really was. He shouldered the grey messenger bag that served as his school bag and glanced down at it momentarily, wondering if he'd woken up Plagg when he picked up the boxes.

Following Marinette into her room, Adrien ducked his head slightly as he did his best not to smile and make Marinette self-conscious. Her room really was very pink, but tastefully and cheerfully pink. Her fashion sense transferred over into her love of pretty things and a welcoming environment.

"Over here, I'll just put everything by my workstation so I can get started right away," Marinette called over her shoulder to Adrien as she put down the bags by her sewing machine and craft area. Adrien came and carefully put the boxes he had carried up by her desk. Carefully, he also put down his messenger bag as well in case the little kwami was still asleep.

"I have a list of the materials I brought with me on my tablet so you know exactly how much and what I've brought this time." Adrien was subtly trying to make it evident that he was indeed coming back, and that there would possibly be multiple times that he would do so.

"I couldn't possibly ask for more than what you brought today!" Marinette said shaking her head as she took Adrien's tablet and realized exactly how much his father had actually donated. Her arms went out expansively, "I have enough to nearly mass produce my own line of masks here." 

Adrien laughed. "My father never does anything halfway, I have to give that to him." Adrien smiled but it was dimmed slightly by this rude voice in the back of his head that said to him, 'With the exception of being a father of course.'

Marinette turned toward Adrien, she had watched him and known him long enough now that she knew when something was bugging him. "Hey, you ok? How have things been at home, if ...you don't mind me asking...?" Marinette hesitated, not wanting to overstep her boundaries. Adrien's father and home life had always been sensitive subjects for him, but she hoped they were good enough friends by now that she could at least express her concern for him. 

''Oh, yeah...well..." He ran a hand through his blonde hair, his eyes flicking down and to the side. "I guess things are the same as they've been since...since my mom went missing...I guess that's the problem." Adrien's gaze went to the floor beneath his feet, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he did so. His shoulders were slightly hunched and Marinette couldn't help but feel concerned. She walked over to her fainting couch, curled up near the head of it, then offered a gentle smile and patted the spot next to her on the couch.

Adrien was able to offer a faint smile back and sat down on the couch next to the petite girl. Marinette scooted over slightly to get comfortable as well as to allow enough room to offer part of the supporting area of the fainting couch. "He's...still pretty distant then?"

"Distant? He could live in a different country and we'd probably communicate as much as we do now." Adrien sighed, saw how Marinette had left him some space up near the headboard where she was sitting, and scooted back against it, half reclining. Not wanting to dirty her fainting couch with his shoes he kicked them off before putting his socked feet up on the end of the couch. Marinette was a little stunned he took the invitation, but soon settled her arm over the raised back of the fainting couch to listen, her other on the knee she had tucked against her so she wouldn't knock over the decorative parasol she always had on the couch. Adrien looked up at her from his half reclined position, smiled sadly and continued. 

"You're so lucky Marinette." 

"I'm lucky?" Marinette gave Adrien a perplexed look. "How's that?"  
Adrien flicked his gaze back down before answering. "You've always had parents who you know without a shadow of a doubt love you. They've been there to hold you when you had nightmares and hug you when you did something they were proud of. Who support you and your decisions, and who actually listen to you about your dreams and aspirations." Adrien looked off to the side, his eyes catching his messenger bag in his peripheral vision, he noticed two little concerned green-glowing eyes peeking out and flicked his gaze back down to keep from drawing attention to them. "With my Father, he still treats me as a child. We're nearly about to graduate, and he plans my life out for me like I'm fourteen still." 

Marinette frowned concerned and started absentmindedly playing with a tuft of Adrien's hair that was splayed across the top part of a decorative pillow. "So...what would be your end goal? What is it that you would like to aspire to do?"

"That's just it, I want to find that out for myself. My father keeps pushing on me that I'll take over his business one day, and wanting to send me to this prestigious university to study business and management, and how I'll take these classes, and learn these languages, without even asking me what I want to do!" Adrien looked up through his lashes and bangs gesturing with his hands as if they were shackled. "I swear if I were in a tower and had long hair you'd be able to call me Rapunzel! That's about as trapped and isolated as I feel most of the time." Adrien let his hands fall back on his stomach. He felt so nice being here with Marinette as himself, being able to talk to her like this. He was thinking maybe because he was in her room and was letting himself be vulnerable with her, she had lost a little of that initial awkwardness. 'Progress.' He thought to himself. 

Marinette laughed a little at Adrien's dramatic flair and said before she thought about it, "Well, then you're just going to have to let your hair out the window so I can climb up and save you!" Marinette's hand flew up to her mouth and she blushed before she looked at Adrien who had burst out laughing. Figuring there was no harm in the playful banter, she let her hand drop from her mouth and went back to playing with Adrien's hair as she chuckled a little before continuing on in a more solemn tone. 

"In all seriousness though, maybe if you show your father you have some kind of direction in your life or that you have some type of plan as to what you would truly like to accomplish, he wouldn't be so pushy with his plans for you," Marinette said, a hopeful lilt to the end of her statement as she gestured in the air with her free hand.

Adrien thought a moment then shook his head slightly, "No, I know him too well. I believe that's why he keeps me so busy. So I don't have time to think about what I really want or what I'm actually interested in." Adrien's face grew sad as he looked down and away again. "I think that's why he limits my time out with friends too, especially this past year." Marinette watched Adrien shrug his shoulders, in a dejected manner, “You can't miss what you never knew, right?"

Marinette looked with a melancholy concern at Adrien, her heart breaking for him. She had seldom ever seen him so sad before. 

"Well, if you do happen to need help striking out on your own, my parents have been wanting to hire an assistant baker for a while." Adrien looked up at Marinette surprised and she blushed profusely. "I mean, I know it's not as glamorous as modeling or...or anything...but it's a steady paycheck and my parents love you so you'd definitely get the job and..."

"No, that, that's great Marinette!" Adrien said smiling. "I just, wasn't sure what to do if it ever actually came down to confronting my father. I mean..." Adrien sighed and smiled sheepishly, "I know a lot of things that are...interesting, but not particularly useful, like fencing for instance." He laughed and shrugged, "wouldn't exactly look good on a resume, you know?" 

Marinette smiled and shook her head gently, "You remind me of one of my other friends, always doubting yourself. You underestimate your abilities and to tell the truth, there's no good reason for it other than your own mind and possibly the opinions of people like your father telling you that you're not capable. But believe me, when I say, you're more than capable Adrien."

Adrien looked up into Marinette's bluebell eyes slightly astonished, and as much as her brain wanted to shut down and start stuttering, her heart knew her message was too important to screw up so Marinette gulped, grabbed her resolve with both hands and continued on, not letting her eyes waver from Adrien's. "You are...one of the smartest, kindest, and most accomplished people I know. You have the strength to step out of your father's shadow, but that won't happen unless you yourself believe you are capable of doing so. That's something no one can do for you, Adrien." Finally, with the intensity of Adrien's stare and this emotion she couldn't quite place behind his eyes, she turned away and stared at her journal box sitting out on her desk. "I believe in you. I'd believe in you to the moon and back, but my opinion means little if you can't find a way to believe in yourself first." Her gaze flitted down to her hands before meeting Adrien's gaze again. His eyes seemed very bright for a moment, then Marinette realized why. Tears were dripping down the sides of his cheeks unnoticed as he stared at Marinette in awe. 

"Mari..."

Marinette, having sympathetic tear ducts, started tearing up as well, but rather than becoming her usual awkward self, she went with the impulse that her friend's tears moved her to, and practically threw herself onto Adrien and gave him the biggest hug she could manage with the awkward angle she was at. Adrien sat up at the same moment to give her a proper hug. The result was Marinette nearly being pulled into Adrien's lap where they stayed for a moment, lost in each other's embrace. When Mari finally looked up, it was to Adrien looking adoringly down at her, eyes like emeralds shining with the sun behind them. Her heart gave an uncomfortable lurch, but she couldn't tear her own eyes away from his gaze. Slowly, Adrien's eyes softened and he very slightly started leaning into Marinette. Finally, the red flags started going up in Marinette's mind and startled she flailed her arms backward lost her balance and managed to fall out of Adrien's lap. 

Concerned Adrien leaned forward, trying to figure out what happened as his eyes had been mostly closed when Marinette fell. "Mari! You okay?"

To which, Marinette burst out laughing. She gripped her sides and could barely breathe as she tried to get a hold of herself long enough to answer Adrien. "I- I'm fine!" She finally managed, her cheeks beginning to get sore. Adrien found her laugh so infectious he started cracking up too.

The whole situation had been so absurd to her and hit her so fast that when she fell down, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Adrien had slid off the couch to laugh with her on the floor. His legs splayed out to either side of the petite girl, one leg over one of her outstretched legs, Marinette's other leg was bent at the knee, and she was currently using it to support herself as she was nearly doubled over in laughter. Adrien finally got a hold of himself and wiped laughter tears from his eyes, "Seriously though, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah...It's just my ego that's bruised." As Marinette stood and then felt a soreness she winced. "And possibly...other areas." She rubbed her bottom a second and smiled sheepishly.

Adrien chuckled lightly and got up on his feet as well, looking down at his friend with all the warmth he felt in his heart, he had started lifting a hand, but then thought better of it and just clenched his fingers in at the longing he still felt in the tips of them and put his hand in his pocket instead. "I just want to let you know... that I will take what you said to heart...and that your opinion means more to me than you know."

Marinette smiled, gave a decisive and cheerful nod and said quietly, "Glad I could help."

They stayed like that for a moment longer before Marinette started getting that uncomfortable feeling that she was getting too attached to her friend again and cleared her throat, turning toward the materials and gesturing for Adrien to follow, "Come on, let's take a look at some of this stuff. You can help me with some ideas."

"Just some ideas? I do happen to be a model you know." Adrien cat walked over to her and struck a pose. 

Marinette giggled and as much as she tried not to, she blushed. "Well, of course, I could use a good model to get mask dimensions and whatnot figured out." Marinette gave Adrien the sweetest of smiles, looking up at him through her lashes and asked, "Happen to know any good models Adrien?"

"Me-ouch! The claws are out! You wound me My-uh-Marinette!" Adrien was barely able to cover up his slip of the tongue. Even so, as Marinette laughed amiably, she had this strange feeling in her stomach, almost like remembering part of a dream in the middle of the day. 

"I love these materials! I mean look at this red velvet! This would make an elegant mask! And this leather can be formed and molded into so many designs! Oh! I can make a kind of steampunk mask with this and add some little metal embellishments!" Marinette was rattling on as she examined the different things she was pulling from the bags and placing them in organized piles on her work station according to what she planned to use together. 

"Hey look at these!" Adrien said examining some plastic half masks he'd pulled out of some smaller boxes, "They're basically done for you." 

"Those are great for adding material to, I can even do some netting or go a totally different direction and add some papier maché and add things like cat or rabbit ears." Marinette was excited and grabbed a couple of the masks herself. 

"Hey! How’s this look? Maybe you can add to it and make me a "Phantom of the Opera" type of mask." Adrien held up a white mask to his face and Marinette tilted her head slightly, the corner of her mouth pulling down in a slight frown. "Mmmm.....not sure white would be the best color for you, I think maybe some contrast to your already light hair and skin might be a little more your style... here." Marinette held up a black mask to Adrien's face. Adrien had closed his eyes out of instinct on the approach of the mask to his eyes. Blinking, he slowly opened them as he looked up at Marinette. 

Marinette who had up to then, been so excited and amused by the excitement of designing, was not prepared for what she saw in front of her. The moment Adrien lifted his lashes, as he opened his eyes, she saw it. He might not have the slitted pupils, but the color of his eyes, his hair, the hopeful look he always had when he looked at her, was unmistakable against the familiar black shape of the mask. The wide-eyed girl immediately gasped and dropped the mask stepping back and bumping directly into her chair. The chair, however, rolled out of her way and she promptly fell down, landing backward on her elbows, too stunned to catch her balance.

"Marinette!" Adrien pushed the still lingering chair out of the way quickly and dropped to a crouch in front of his girlfriend. "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

Marinette couldn't seem to catch her breath, and the feeling of breathlessness became worse as she looked up at what she knew as Adrien, who for the longest time she saw as this separate entity from her partner, offering her his hand as he'd done countless times before. Now she realized though, not just as Adrien, but as her partner, as her love as the person she trusted most in the whole world.

She panicked.

Skittering back on her hands and pushing away with her feet, even as she looked at him with his leather jacket on, or maybe even more because of it, she couldn't unsee Chat's mask on Adrien's face. Even the look of concern he was showing her right now, crouched as he was, not daring to move, she could see flashes of her partner as she stared at one of her best friends in the whole world. 

Stumbling back onto her feet, she reached behind her blindly for the door. 

Stammering she managed to get out, "I...uh...bathroom...sorry. Berightback..." The last part of her sentence said so fast it was basically one word.

Later, she couldn't even remember how she got down the stairs and into the bathroom. She had just closed the door quickly and quietly behind her, leaned back against it, and then slid down the door to sit on the bathroom floor, her breathing coming fast and shallow. She buried her face in her hands. 

She had so much running through her mind at once. Flashes of Chat's mannerisms and Adrien's overlapping in her mind. How Chat would bow to her as Ladybug, how Adrien had bowed to her offering his translating services when her uncle had come from China, how they were both allergic to feathers, the nervous neck rub they both tended to do, how protective they both were of her, Chat throwing her out of harm's way when the motorcycle nearly hit her, Adrien standing up to those punks who were, bad mouthing Ladybug, badmouthing her...She now understood the intensity with which he defended Ladybug, because he was literally defending someone he knew, just as she had for Chat. How loyal, brave, and kind they both were, the soft, sweet, identical upturn of their lips when she genuinely made them both smile or laugh...made him laugh... finally the memory came of Chat handing her the pink rose on the Eiffel Tower and the image of Adrien handing her his umbrella in the rain. 

Removing her hands from her face slowly, Marinette hadn't realized until she felt the air cool the wet tracks on her face, that she'd been crying.

"Marinette...are...are you ok? The small concerned voice of her Kwami, who had come out of her hiding place in her purse opened the floodgates for Marinette. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them holding tight and started quietly sobbing. "Oh, Marinette!" Tikki flew onto one of her raised knees and alighted on it. Patting Marinette comfortingly on the head, she watched her charge waiting patiently for the raven-haired girl to raise her head.

Marinette nearly imperceptibly shook her head, her stomach twisting in knots as she answered her friend and kwami.

"I...I can't Tikki. I can't believe Adrien is Chat... I refuse...because that would mean this whole time, I was rejecting the person I wanted to return my love the most." Bringing her head up, eyes full of tears she looked at Tikki, "That would mean for the past four years I've been hurting not only my partner, my best friend, and now my boyfriend. How could I have been so blind!?? The person I had loved for so long was the same person I kept rejecting again and again! How can he even look at me? How could he not hate me?? Knowing I had loved half of him but not accepting his other half; How could he still want to be with me?" Marinette let her head fall forward again and hid her face. The next words she whispered, "I wouldn't want to be with me. I'm a horrible person."

"That's not true Marinette!" Tikki objected vehemently. She flew close to her ear so she could be sure Marinette could hear her. "I'm sure if Chat is Adrien, that he understands, and is just as much in the dark as you are. You were doing your best to stay true to your feelings and didn't want to give Chat yourself if your affections weren't all for him. That's loyalty and steadfastness in the face of uncertainty." Marinette looked up, fresh tear tracks on her face as she looked at Tikki. 

Tikki flew to her cheek and lovingly wiped a falling tear away, giving her cheek a hug before flitting backward to look Marinette in the eyes. "There was no way for you to know that Adrien loved...well.. you, if he is, in fact, Chat, and you were giving yourself fully to accepting the chance that he might be able to. That's also brave on your part. That you didn't settle for someone else's affections if you had your heart set on Adrien." Marinette rubbed tears from her cheeks and sniffled as Tikki went back to her perch atop Marinette's knees. 

Tikki motioned expansively with her little arms, "I mean look at your friendship with Adrien. The only one who hadn't realized you had a crush on Adrien, was Adrien himself. But, he still cared for you, still looked out for you and protected you because deep down, he knows you are special to him, even if he was uncertain as to why that is."

Marinette looked at Tikki a moment, then down and away, trying to process what the pink little Kwami was saying before looking back at her a little calmer.

"Look at it this way," Tikki said deciding to sit down on Marinette's knee before continuing. "You both were so fiercely loyal to each other, that as much as you found the other half of your partner attractive, you were steadfast in pursuing only one person."

"I guess so," Marinette bit her lip in thought. "Tikki, can't you just tell me for sure if Adrien is Chat Noir? Maybe that would settle things in my mind better."

Tikki shook her head, crossing her arms as she did so. "No, Marinette, even if I could tell you Chat Noir's identity, it wouldn't make a difference in how you feel. You'll be able to know and accept him for who he is, when your heart is ready to know, not before then. Just like how Chat wasn't ready to realize that you are Ladybug, until he started falling for Marinette. Do you understand?"

Marinette sighed deeply but smiled at her friend and nodded, "I understand Tikki. I actually kind of feel better for it." Then Marinette pursed her lips, "I guess I better figure out something to say to Adrien." Marinette let out a gasp in realization. "Oh my God! I've been trying to avoid him the past few days! What if he is Chat and I've just been brushing him off?"

"Good!" Tikki exclaimed her little arms on her hips.

"Tikki!" Marinette said aghast at Tikki's ruthlessness.

"I'm not saying it to be mean, what I'm trying to say is, that you accepted Chat for who he is, now Adrien is trying to show Marinette that he accepts you for who you really are." Tikki flitted up and kissed Marinette on the nose. "And secretly, I think you need to know that he loves you for you, and not just as Ladybug, so let him court you and show you he cares as much for you as he does your alter ego,... I mean if that's who Chat really is." Tikki gave a little shrug of her shoulders and a wink for good measure.

"Got it! Thanks, Tikki. I don't know what I would do without you. Not just as my kwami, but as my most trusted friend." Marinette smiled warmly at Tikki and gave her a little nuzzle. 

Tikki sniffled and wiped a little moisture from her eye, "Go on now, before you get me started too."

Marinette giggled, Opened her purse wide for Tikki to get in then went up the stairs to face Adrien.

The boy was sitting on the edge of her fainting couch, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy when Marinette finally stuck her head through the door. His shoulders slumped, he was clutching the strap of his messenger bag and had his shoes back on. When he spoke he looked at the ground rather than at the petite girl coming through the door.

"Do...do you need me to leave?" He said in a near whisper. He didn't dare look up. While Marinette was pouring her heart out to Tikki, Adrien's own kwami was on damage control. Adrien was so worried that Marinette had figured out who he really was and that she had been disappointed or even disgusted, that he was beside himself with worry and grief. Plagg had done everything he could to cheer Adrien up, but he'd worked himself up far too much for his kwami to make much headway. 

"What?? N-no! Of course not! I...I just had a sudden attack of...bad cramps is all." The moment she said it, she wanted to cringe. Holding herself in a one-armed hug, Marinette was appalled that she couldn't find a less embarrassing excuse than that, but she rather suffer a little awkwardness than have...well... her possible partner and friend (her mind refused to let her hope as far as to say boyfriend) be hurt for even a moment longer.

"Cramps?" Adrien's brows knitted together in confusion as he tilted his head.

"Ummm...yeah...you know...that..that time of the month, kind of makes a girl a bit uncomfortable...ya know?" Marinette blushed a bit but smiled reassuringly.

"That time of the...oh. Oh!" Adrien turned even brighter red than Marinette had ever seen him blush before. After a bit of sputtering, Adrien was finally able to form a sentence. "Do...should I do something to help?" Adrien blanched as Marinette's eyes widened a bit. "I mean...not, not to sound weird or...or anything I mean like... I don't know... get you some water or...does that even help??" By this time Adrien was a bit of a nervous wreck and flailing around awkwardly like he was trying to pull words that would save him out of the air. Marinette was doing her hardest but a smile was growing on her lips, so she tried to purse them to hold back her laughter but it wasn't quite working. "Well... you know...Like do you need medicine...or...or ..." Adrien was trying to be an adult and say some kind of sanitary product but he couldn't quite voice the words pad or tampons, and he didn't want to try to motion what he meant because that would surely end up a disaster.

Marinette just couldn't anymore. She had tried to be valiant and hold in her laugh but it burst from her before she could stop it. Adrien stopped stammering and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.   
"Adrien Agreste! Heaven help you if you were to ever to try and have a baby with someone!"

The blonde boy shrugged sheepishly and chuckled looking down shyly before looking back up at the fair skinned girl through his lashes. "I don't know...Seems like part of the process would be fun at least."

This time it was Marinette's turn to be floored. It felt like she'd been socked in the stomach with how fast She lost her breath. She blanched and then blushed so quickly it was actually very interesting to watch. She was doing her absolute best to get the images that Adrien's simple statement had conjured out of her head.

Adrien's eyelids lowered as he smirked with an almost cat-like impishness. With all the awkwardness he felt around Marinette recently, it was nice to see she at least briefly was aware that he was capable of being 'more than just a friend.'

With a languid and feline grace, he sauntered over to Marinette, deliberately slowly. The girl's eyes had gone as wide as saucers at the approaching model. Adrien gave a little tisking sound as he wagged one index finger back and forth in a mock chastising motion. 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, where has your mind gone wandering...the gutter perhaps?" He stopped inches in front of Marinette making the girl have to look up if she didn't want to just stare at his chest. He thanked his growth spurt a few years back for the slight advantage over his lady. 

"What?? No!! M-m-me? I wa-wasn't..." Marinette was trying hard to find solid footing again, somehow this conversation went horribly wrong and she was a stuttering mess again. Y-you're the one that...I didn't...Grrrr!" She ended in a frustrated growl as she gave Adrien a little shove as he laughed. 

Just then the door opened up into Marinette's room Sabine popped her head up into sight. She noted her daughter blushing and Adrien smiling and looking a little sheepish as well, she, however, held her tongue and merely smiled at the two warmly. 

"Dinner is ready you two, time to wrap up your project for the night and come on down."

"We'll be right there mom.” Marinette finally getting a hold of herself fixed Adrien with a deadly glare, which only encouraged him to smile wider. 

Sabine managed to make it back down the stairs before she giggled at the two youths. 

Adrien gallantly bowed as he motioned toward the stairs "After you mademoiselle...unless you'd like to continue our discussion..."

"Adrien..." Marinette's tone was quiet even if her gaze was shooting sparks, "Get down those stairs before I show you the fast way down." Her hands clenched and unclenched as she locked Adrien in a steely gaze. 

Adrien merely laughed as he straightened and started down the stairs with a salute to the woman in front of him. "As you wish..." He said before disappearing down the steps. He was brave, but he wasn't stupid, and he had a good memory of how strong Marinette really was.

***********

The next evening, Marinette ventured onto her balcony and wondered vaguely if Chat would show up tonight. It wasn't a patrol night, and they had agreed to try not to let their relationship distract them from school or from hero work, but she hoped anyway. On her lounge chair was a basket wrapped with cellophane and a bow. She looked at it curiously then looked around. Sitting on the lounge chair by the basket, Marinette removed the pink, iridescent paper and revealed a beautiful wooden gift basket with several items. She removed a card with a bright green paw print first and opened it. Inside in neat handwriting and with a few more drawn on paws with a couple of hearts the note read:

"To my princess, Sometimes being a girl and a superhero can be a bit rough, so I made you a care package. I hope this helps you any time you're not feeling yourself.  
With all my love, your knight in shining leather. ^.~"

Putting the card aside slowly as she thought about what Chat had written with a little confusion, she turned toward the contents of the package. Inside she found a very soft and fluffy baby pink lounging robe with matching slippers, a Squishmallow cat pillow, a hot/cold pack that could either be put in the freezer or microwaved, a box of very decadent and expensive chocolates, some fruity electrolyte sports drinks, the latest romantic comedy to be released on DVD, a mani/pedi set, some expensive and fragrant body butter, and at the very bottom of the basket, there was a box of pads and a box of Midol.

Marinette burst out laughing and hugged her cat pillow. "Gotcha kitty. Though I think I'll give you your two weeks to have fun, and for me to get over being such a goof for not realizing who you were... well 'paaaaws'ibly are sooner." Marinette holding her cat pillow stared out into the starry Parisian night and sighed, wondering what the next two weeks could have in store for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies everyone. I understand some of you have been waiting for this chapter so patiently and I am very grateful that you are here and still reading this. Dealing with break-ups, illnesses and family drama at the moment. I'd write a story about my crazy life but it wouldn't be believable trust me. ^.~ (Sorry for any errors, I usually try to proofread a lot but decided just to post since it's been so long since the last update.) Thanks for hanging in there and being amazing!! Also, thank you to all of you who offered encouragement. It's what kept me going, and writing through all of this. Here's a longer chapter just for you!


	6. Compass and Statues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No longer able to avoid her friends, how will Marinette explain her new "boyfriend". Goofiness and possible rivalries to commence.

"Marinette! I'm dying girl!!! You HAVE to tell me who this third statue is." Alya said as she finally was able to catch up to Marinette before Marinette could disappear to the art room for lunch, which is where she had been hiding the past four days, to avoid questions from her best friend about her relationship situation. Marinette couldn't help but laugh at her and Alya's little inside joke. After the music festival a few years back, when Juleka's mother had cautioned Marinette and Alya from putting anything metal near the ship's compass as it threw off the compass and made it go crazy, the two girls had referred to Marinette as the compass and any prospective love interests as the metal statues.

"I really can't tell you much about him..." Marinette said truthfully, as she twiddled her fingers. She really couldn't. Alya would be all over her if she told her it was Chat Noir, and if she ended up switching quickly to Adrien in public later, Alya was sure to deduct that Adrien was Chat Noir, and then another realization would soon come after; a realization that could not only reveal Marinette's identity but also possibly destroy a friendship. One built on unconditional trust if not complete honesty.

Unnoticed by the girls, Nino and Adrien were coming up quickly behind them as Alya had successfully thwarted Marinette's attempts to escape the lunchroom and therefore her inevitable interrogation. Just in case though, Alya had slipped her arm through Marinette's. Though on the outside the gesture looked chummy, it was as much to keep Marinette from escaping, as it was an amiable gesture. 

"Sooooo....come on girl! You can't leave your bestie hanging like this. Who's the third statue to your crazy compass?" Alya shook Marinette a little with anticipation. 

Adrien looked questioningly at Nino while gesturing toward the girls and their conversation about statues and compasses. Nino put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, then motioned to Adrien that he'd tell him later. Adrien nodded and listened intently. Worried about several aspects of the ensuing conversation. He knew Marinette would never out him, but Alya was amazingly tenacious and smart. She'd be able to sniff out any inconsistencies in Marinette's story and that's the part that worried him. Still, Marinette was smart, and he had every faith that she'd come up with something. This whole statue and compass conversation had him wondering though. He had a notion of what they were discussing and that made him a little nervous as well. To satisfy his curiosity, (and his nerves) he'd have to pick Nino's brain after lunch.

"I'm telling the truth Alya, I can't really tell you much about him...because I'm not for sure myself who he is." Marinette ducked her head a little and blushed as she got in line to get her tray and pick up some food for herself. 

"Whoa! Back up! Excuuuse me?" Alya stopped getting her tray mid-motion to turn to her friend, Alya put a hand on her hip and her other hand up in the air in a stopping motion. "I'm confused now, you are in a relationship...with someone you don't even know??" Alya's eyes went wide with incredulity and a good amount of horror at the prospect.

"No!...yeeess.....It's complicated." Marinette sighed as she picked out a juice for her drink and moved on down the line a little. "We've been talking for years you see. Just as friends though. I've just never seen who he really is..."

"Wait a second. Marinette did you meet this guy on the internet?? Are you being scammed? Did he ask for money??" Alya was in full freak-out mode now. She was just randomly grabbing food to put on her tray, barely paying attention to what she was grabbing as she followed Marinette, who was bound and determined not to look back at Alya. She felt that the more she said, the worse the situation seemed to be getting. 

"No! It's not like that. He's never asked me for a single thing. He's been there for me a lot when I couldn't always share my secrets with anyone, even you." Marinette looked up at Alya sheepishly and continued. "He is a really nice guy, he goes to the same school we do, and he knows who I am, but I'm going to find out who he is at the masquerade ball next Saturday." Marinette finally hit on an idea that might get her out of this mess and turned to Alya as she finally sat down with her lunch tray on the opposite side of the table. "He's...my secret admirer."

"Your secret admirer? Who's been stalking you for years apparently." Alya said over her glasses dryly at Marinette's supposed naivety. 

Marinette laughed and shook her head as she took a fork and poked at her lunch a little, "No silly. He barely found out who I was about a week ago through the conversations we've been having, and he wants to reveal who he is to me at the masquerade so we can finally have an actual relationship."

Alya pursed her lips worried before reaching for her own drink and sipping on it. "And you're okay with that?"

"Well...yeah," Marinette said nodding and looking at Alya who seemed genuinely concerned. "Look I know it sounds weird, but...I trust him. Wholeheartedly. Whatever he says he'll do, he always does. He'll be there. You'll see." Marinette nodded with certainty, trying to put her best friend at ease. 

Alya looked at Marinette a moment more before sighing, closing her eyes then nodding and opening them again. "Well, you usually are a pretty good judge of character. So, if you trust your judgment on this guy, then I'll stop worrying too." Alya gave Marinette a smile then a wink as the boys sat down to join them for lunch.

Nino had taken the seat next to Alya as was his custom, and Adrien walked over to the side Marinette was on, set down his own tray, and took the seat next to her. Marinette blushed profusely when Adrien was settled. She wasn't at all sure how to act around him anymore. Dinner had gone well the night Adrien came over, once Marinette had gotten over Adrien's comments that made her blush for the first fifteen minutes of the meal. Her mom had really gone all out on dinner and besides being delicious, there was even enough for Adrien to be able to take home that night (though most of the leftovers ended up being eaten by an inches tall cat Kwami). In the days since then, Marinette had gone back and forth on an emotional roller coaster, trying to reconcile the two sides of Chat Noir. The more she paid attention for Chat's traits in Adrien, the more she realized how much she had missed by being so single minded about how perfect she had thought his civilian form was. The smile that curled her lips was tender and affectionate. Of course, now she knew what an adorable dork he really is. 'Hmmm...' She thought as she poked at a bit of salad with her fork, not really seeing the salad as she mused, 'he's adorable…he's a dork....he's adorkable!'

Marinette let out a very unladylike snicker at the thought which had Alya raising an eyebrow at her friend, who she feared, may have fallen off the deep end. Alya began to wonder whether she should trust Marinette's judgement after all, as she merely gave a half-hearted shake of her head in an almost pitying gesture of her friend apparently losing her mental faculties. 

"What kind of salad did you get? Why isn't mine that entertaining?" Adrien leaned over, poking at Marinette's salad in mock fascination.

"Excuse me, but I don't take kindly to my salad being tossed in such a fashion! I’d appreciate if we could kindly lett-uce leaf my salad in peace." Marinette said as seriously as she could possibly manage, the corners of her mouth betraying the smirk she was trying to hide. If this didn't bring out the Chat in Adrien, she knew she didn't have the right boy.

"My apologies Marinette, kindly don't Beet me to a pulp for the oversight." Adrien bowed as best he could from his seated position.

Nino pulled down his red cap over his eyes with a groan. "Oh Lord! She got him started..."

Alya was a bit flabbergasted at the strange turn of events. Her Marinette was playing with Adrien, without even the briefest hint of a stutter, while Adrien had to have pulled out some of the cheesiest puns she'd ever heard. And here she thought he was supposed be reserved and cool. 

"Apology accepted. I admit I may have bean a bit radish."

"Not at all! Peas feel free to Kale me out on my behavior any time." 

"My dudes, if you don't stop, I can't be seen with you guys anymore. This is way beyond my embarrassment threshold!" Nino said pulling his cap the rest of the way over his face while Alya shook her head in near amazement at the transformation of her friends into complete and total nerds before her eyes. She hid a smile behind her hand, Marinette’s secret admirer was going to have some pretty stiff competition.

Marinette and Adrien took one look at Nino, then each other, before bursting out laughing.

Adrien getting a hold of himself first, managed to clap a hand on Nino’s shoulder across the table and couldn't help but annoy his friend one more time before giving up. " Romaine calm avoca-bro, we'll behave ourselves." Adrien glanced in Marinette's direction, and gave a bit of a smirk and a wink.

Marinette giggled and shrugged, her hands palms up in defeat. " What can I say? Haters gonna hate. I don't carrot all." 

Alya and Nino groaned in unison, to which Adrien and Marinette burst out laughing before they all settled down to enjoy each other's company and lunch at long last. 

****

“Hey Nino! Wait Up!” Adrien called out to Nino. Nino turned toward Adrien with a smile and a raised eyebrow, a characteristic he had picked up from hanging around his ever-skeptical girlfriend.

“Hey Dude! How’d you ditch the Gorilla you call a bodyguard?” Nino waited as his friend came up level to him before proceeding down the hall to the library. 

“I just told him I have a project I needed to stay after school to work on for a while... Which isn’t completely dishonest…” Adrien stuffed his hands inside his pockets while he walked, looking down at the floor beneath his feet. He hated being dishonest, he knew his bodyguard meant well, but nevertheless, he was still under his dad’s command, something, no matter how well intentioned, Adrien felt smothered by. 

“So, what brings on this happy little rebellion?” Nino asked, head tipped down, so his eyes were slightly covered by his cap. He could tell that his friend needed to unload something on him, but like anything meaningful to Adrien, it would be a little like pulling teeth just to get to the root of the problem.

Adrien looked off toward the windows they were passing on the way to the library. Sometimes during this time of day, he could catch sight of Marinette hanging out on the steps of the school before she headed home toward the Boulangerie. As he kept an eye out for her signature bluish-black hair, he asked Nino, a little distance to his tone as he spoke, “How did you know Alya…you know, liked you? I mean, I know Ladybug kind of lumped you guys together during an akuma attack, but…” Adrien turned toward his friend who seemed to be as chill as ever, though it usually took a little bit to get Nino out of his laid back, go with the flow demeanor, “how did you know? You know? That she was interested in you, and how did you win her over?”

Nino had a glint in his eye as he flicked his cap upward a little grinning at Adrien, “What? You finally get the nerve to track down Ladybug and ask her for a date Agreste?” Nino teased, knowing full well his friend’s not so subtle obsession with Ladybug.

“Actually…there is a girl I’m interested in, and she’s in our class.” They entered the doorway to the library and Adrien sighed, figuring in the interests of time, and dignity, he’d just get everything out in the open…a bit like ripping off a band-aid. “I’m in love with Marinette.” 

“HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH!!!”

The librarian turned toward Nino and shushed him sternly, glaring over the use of his colorful language.

“My bad.” Nino said apologetically, in a much quieter tone toward the elderly lady manning the library counter. He directed Adrien down an aisle with a quick jerk of the head. 

Adrien, who was taken aback and a bit mortified at all the attention that Nino’s outburst had caused toward them, blushed lightly as he navigated down the aisle. At the end of it, there were some tables and a listening center with headphones that had been where Nino was originally headed when he intercepted him. 

“Jeez Nino, how do you really feel?” Adrien chuckled a little nervously as he settled his messenger bag carefully down on the table of the listening area. 

Nino shook his head as he flopped his own bag down with a lot less care, “She’s only been mad crushing on you since your first year here Bro.” Nino sifted through the library’s audio collection, trying to find some inspiration for tunes he could play at the masquerade ball. 

“What?? When did this happen???” Adrien’s own outburst earned him a few hisses from a near-by study group a couple of tables over. More quietly, he ducked down his head and said in a hiss toward Nino, “That’s impossible, Marinette is an amazing friend, but she’s way too uncomfortable around me to like me that way.”

Nino took a deep inhale, his hands palm to palm in front of his face, as if praying for patience before pointing his joined hands in Adrien’s direction, “My dude! For real?” Nino said in a not so quiet whisper. “You never notice how she stumbles on her sentences, and feet around you? How she goes out of her way to help you with anything you need? How she always blushes around you?”

Adrien scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “I don’t know, I always took it that maybe she was too intimidated by, well, what I am or my connection to my dad to really… you know, like me in that way.”

Nino looked at his friend and the forlorn puppy dog face he was making, then shook his head and stood up, picking his bag back up. “Well it doesn’t look like I’m going to get much done here anyway, so why don’t we go for a walk?”

“Sorry bro, I could always message you later or someth…”

“Nah, it’s cool. With how clueless you are, you’ll need all the help you can get, especially if you’re going to be any competition to this secret admirer dude that Marinette’s supposed to meet…”

“Actually…” Adrien began, looking sideways, and up through his bangs guiltily at his friend after he had gathered up his bag and began walking toward the library entrance.

“No way!” Nino exclaimed, which earned him another aggravated shushing from the librarian, whose station they were passing just then. Nino ducked his head a little in chagrin but continued as they exited the library, “You’re the Secret Admirer Dude??”

Adrien merely looked at Nino sheepishly and nodded.

“Then what’s the problem? You’ve got her already then, right? She’s totally stoked to meet up with you at that dance thing.” Nino walked them down the steps and out of the school. 

Adrien looked around hopefully, but Marinette was no where in sight. He sighed. “That’s just it! She’s not stoked to meet me! She’s stoked to meet the me that she thinks she knows.” Adrien kicked a pebble out of his way, trying to give some relief to his frustration. 

“Uuuuh…” Was Nino’s intelligent reply, he wasn’t quite sure he was following.

“I’m just afraid that she’ll be… disappointed, I guess, when she finally finds out who I am.” Adrien was afraid that Marinette was going to find her partner lacking. The conversation they had overheard the other day with those dumb punks had stuck with him. Maybe he was just a sidekick…

“Are you kidding me? She’s probably going to be so stoked she won’t be able to put together a whole sentence for a week!” Nino said, before pushing his slipping glasses further up on his nose, “I’m not sure where you’ve been the past four years, but I know where Marinette’s been…” Nino trailed off dramatically.

Adrien looked at Nino enquiringly.

“Friendzoned.” Nino said flatly.

Realization dawned on Adrien’s face slowly before he cringed and yelled out “Shit! No! No, no, nononono, no, no, NO! Shit! What have I done?”

At this point Nino figured they’d be a while and parked himself on a nearby bench overlooking the Seine. He took out a little canister of bubbles he still kept on him and started leisurely blowing out the little rainbow tinted orbs as he waited for his friend to have a pause in his melt-down. 

Adrien paced, hands grabbing at his usually carefully styled hair. “She’s going to think I’m a complete idiot. Or even worse, a jerk! I didn’t mean to friendzone her, or ignore her or anything, I was just interested in…in…”

“A mask?” Nino asked as he ribbed Adrien for the crush he’d had forever on Ladybug. 

Adrien usually brushed off Nino’s comments about his crush, but that particular comment hit home. He stopped dead in his pacing and rubbed the heel of his hand over an ache he suddenly had in his chest. Nino was right. He’d been looking for an ideal, not a person before when he was trying to discover Ladybug’s identity. He didn’t allow for the fact that outwardly, though she always presented a tough, put together, and confident appearance, she was inwardly just as insecure and imperfect a person as he was.   
He suddenly had a flashback to their first akuma, and how Roger, the police chief had told Ladybug how she had failed and to get out of the way.  
~~~~~~~  
Ladybug looking sullen and dejected, looked toward Chat and with a heavy heart and conscience addressed her fellow superhero “...He's right, you know. If I had captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't the right one for this job...” Her hands moved to cover her face in shame.

Chat’s heart went out to her. If she was as brand new to all of this as he was, then she’d already proven herself to be more than capable of the responsibility she was given. He reached out a hand and placed it on Ladybug’s shoulder, “No. He's wrong, because without you, she'd no longer be here.” He had gestured to Chloe, whom Ladybug had literally just moments before saved after Stoneheart had chucked her from one of the middle tiers of the Eiffel Tower.

Ladybug lowered her gloved hands to look as Chat continued “And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to 'em.” Chat raised his other hand and placed it on her other shoulder as he turned Ladybug gently toward him, getting a good look for the first time at impossibly blue eyes that he would end up seeking out from then on, “Trust me on this. Okay?”

Ladybug managed a weak smile but was none the less bolstered by this stranger’s faith in her. “Okay.” She said resolutely. If he could believe in her, maybe she could as well…  
~~~~~~  
Adrien smiled, that was it. He knew what he had to do. He didn’t know how he had missed it, and messed up so much with Marinette, but thank God he hadn’t with Ladybug when she needed him most. He just needed to believe in her, trust her whole-heartedly and have faith that she would adjust with some encouragement and the freedom to do so. He had done that with Ladybug straight away, and she had bloomed into Paris’ savior and his amazing partner within moments. Marinette only needed that same confidence in her civilian self as she maintained as Ladybug. THAT he could definitely help with. 

There was one thing that still bothered him…

“I think I know how to fix this Nino, but I need to know one thing…” Adrien turned toward his friend who assumed a bit more attentive posture at the blonde boy’s serious expression.

“Yeah bro?”

“What was Alya talking about…Another statue and a compass and all of that? Do you know what that’s about?”

Nino pursed his lips and nodded but then his eye brows creased, and he gave as stern a look to Adrien as he was capable of, “I do…but if I tell you, you didn’t hear it from me. In fact, you didn’t hear it at all, because if Alya finds out I told you this…if either of those girls find out I told you, I’m dead, deceased, finito! Got it?”

Adrien nodded seriously, “They’ll never find it out from me.” 

For good measure Nino looked around to make sure no one they knew was near enough to overhear them. “Ok, so the way I figured this out was way back at the music festival, the year you first started coming to our school. We were on Juleka’s mom’s boat remember?” Nino waved a hand in dismissal in front of him, “Anyway from what Alya told me later, Juleka’s mom Anarka had told the girls while they were cleaning to keep anything metal away from the ship’s compass because it starts acting crazy.”

Adrien smiled slightly to himself as he now realized how Ladybug had gotten the idea to defeat Captain HardRock but continued to pay attention to his friend.

“Anyways, from then on Alya refers to Marinette as a compass and anyone she seems interested in as a statue, at least I think that’s what’s up.” Nino shrugged his shoulders.

“Wait, so if I’m one of the statues, and ‘the secret admirer’ who is also me is the second…” Adrien paced a couple of steps away from Nino before turning back to his best friend perplexed and anxious, “who’s the third statue Alya was talking about?” 

“Come on bruh,” Nino rolled his eyes at his friend’s naivety, “who besides you practically worships the ground Marinette walks on?” Nino stood up and stretched. “More importantly, who is the only other person, besides you, that Marinette has shown any kind of interest in?” 

Adrien thought a moment, but he didn’t even need that long as the image of a blue haired, blue eyed, tall musician came into his mind. His gaze became concerned as he looked to the ground then back up at Nino, almost afraid to be right.

“Luka?”

Though Adrien was friends with him, he nearly dreaded hearing his name when it came to anything associated with Marinette.

Nino nodded solemnly and with a grim certainty confirmed Adrien's fear.

“Luka.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies for not posting in so long. Rest assured I have every intention of seeing this fic through to it's dramatic and fluffy end. If you are a loyal reader, let me tell you now that I appreciate each and every one of you and your encouragement and interest in our story (you're on this journey with me so you also have an important part to play in the creative process, whether you comment or not). Shout out to @LadyNappa for kicking my butt with kindness and encouragement to get on with the story, and to @Serenagold for use of an idea, or rather word she used that perfectly summed up our main couple. Thank you to all and the journey continues!
> 
> P.S. As always, sorry for any errors, the proofreading was understandably rushed.

**Author's Note:**

> So this work was inspired by the song All I Need from Within Temptation. This is my first Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic, which I had planned to be a one-shot, but may develop into more if I feel the need to expand it past the maybe 3 chapters I was going to write originally. We'll see. Comments are of course welcome. I'm actually pretty excited about this and may end up posting the Inuyasha fics I started forever ago and work on them too if I get the chance.
> 
> Oh and there's a reference I dropped for some of my Disnerds out there.  
> See ya next chapter!


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